Two KZN employers nabbed for Covid TERS fraud
Two KwaZulu-Natal employers have been arrested for fraud involving the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Covid-19 TERS fund.
They are among 18 suspects who've been apprehended across the country amid warnings of more arrests.
The UIF says it's been combing through each and every successful application and payout in the latest phase to make sure claims are legitimate.
Speaking in Durban on Wednesday, the UIF's Makhosonke Buthelezi said the auditing process had flagged 46 employers.
"It's instances where the employer was not affected by Covid; they were working - security companies mostly, petrol attendants. Employers claimed - that's fraud and some submitted false claims; they inflated salaries.
“Some were paying their employees but claimed. Some claimed they did not pay the money over to the employees; they used it for their personal things, there's quite a lot of those some of them are the ones that have been arrested."
Buthelezi said others have done the right thing and voluntarily returned the funds.
So far they've recouped R900 million.
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