The 54-year-old man was remanded in custody until 21 June. Picture: iStock
Millions allocated for society’s most vulnerable were allegedly siphoned off by a Gauteng post office manager.
The 54-year-old South African Post Office employee appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday on at least 80 counts of theft and fraud.
Sepheka Stephen Masooa is accused of channelling roughly R2.2 million from the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) payments system, through the post office and into the accounts of ghost recipients.
Based at the Stretford Post Office near Orange Farm, south of Joburg, Masooa allegedly committed these crimes in 2020 with a case only being opened against him in 2022. An investigation by the Hawks resulted in his arrest on Wednesday, 12 June.
“Fictitious accounting entries were made on the Webripost system reflecting payments to beneficiaries. The internal audit uncovered that such payments were inflated and could not be substantiated by valid documentation or supportive recipients bio-files,” explained Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha.
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Police report that the accused’s undoing may have been due to him conducting the alleged fraudulent transactions either very early in the morning or in the evenings – times outside of the Post Office’s standard operating hours.
Major-General Ebrahim Kadwa stated his pleasure at the arrest but warned accomplices that they will be held to account for taking advantage of impoverished members of society.
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“The greedy individuals who use unscrupulous ways to defraud state entities, specifically Sassa in this case, better think again. It is clear the accused did not work alone in this regard. We will stop at nothing to ensure that the rest of the suspects also have their day in court soon,” said Kadwa.
Masooa will appear in court again on 21 June as he waits for the appointment of a legal representative.
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