A bookkeeper from Gauteng has been sentenced to 135 years in prison for stealing more than R11 million from the Covid-19 TERS fund.
Lindelani Gumede created and submitted applications for employees, stating that they worked for companies for which he rendered bookkeeping services.
A spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Phindi Mjonondwane says Gumede was convicted on 32 counts of theft in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, sitting in Palm Ridge this week.
Pleading with the court not to deviate from imposing the minimum prescribed sentence, Senior State Adv. Frans Mhlongo argued that the TERS benefit was a direct response by the Government to the economic effects of the Covid19 pandemic.
Some of the sentences were ordered to run concurrently, resulting in 20 years of direct imprisonment.
