Woman found guilty of defrauding Sassa of more than R100,000

A 67-year-old woman accused of defrauding the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) of more than R100,000, while a company registered to her scored South African Police Services (SAPS) tenders worth millions, has been convicted.

Sarathamoney Devi Sigamoney appeared in the Pretoria North Regional Court on Tuesday, where the sentence was handed down.

Guilty

The court found her guilty on charges of perjury, fraud, and theft after she defrauded SASSA pension payouts while being the sole director of a company that was awarded tenders worth millions from the SAPS to supply office furniture.

Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) spokesperson Henry Mamothame said the matter was postponed to 31 October 2024 for the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) to apply for a forfeiture order to recover the money that was lost by the state, and for the sentencing date to be determined.

ALSO READ: Former Eskom employee convicted for fraud and corruption

 “This conviction is as a result of an occurrence of 13 April 2017, wherein Sigamoney applied for an old age grant with Sassa, attaching a supporting affidavit wherein she stated that she has never worked for a period of 20 years. On 18 April, Sassa provided Sigamoney with a letter of approval, which she signed for as received.”

‘Grant money’

Mamothame said Sigamoney is alleged to have received grant money from Sassa amounting to approximately R123,000 from July 2017 to July 2022.

“Subsequent to charges being registered against her, she continued to receive the grant for a further 16 months.

 “Although she is listed as the director of KJP Traders Pty and Matthew Pillay (her son), KJP is alleged to have conducted business with the state as early as 2012, preceding her application to SASSA. Furthermore, the company is estimated to have cashed in approximately R88 million from the SAPS contracts, to which the last payment was in 2022,” Mamothame said.

ALSO READ: Thoshan Panday fails in bid to appeal the decision denying him bail