Ntsebeng Moji and her company were convicted for fraud after lodging false Covid-19 Ters applications for 16 ghost employees.
A Free State businesswoman and her company were sentenced by the Phuthaditjhaba Magistrate’s Court after lodging fake Covid-19 Ters claims for 16 ghost employees during the pandemic.
Ntsebeng Marygold Moji was convicted for fraud and money laundering related to the Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) for her company, Aqua Land and Swimming Services.
Moji’s sentencing comes after a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation in 2020.
False Covid-19 Ters applications for 16 ghost employees
The SIU revealed that her company lodged fake Ters applications with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) on behalf of 16 people who were not employees.
“The UIF subsequently paid R178 128.36 into Aqua Land’s business account,” SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said on Thursday.
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“In line with the SIU Act, evidence pointing to criminal conduct must be referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for action.”
According to the investigation, these people were ghost employees. It was referred to the NPA and served as the foundation for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s arrest in February 2025.
Kganyago said the SIU interviewed one of these ghost employees and confirmed that the person had never been employed by Aqua Land and had never received any payments from the company.
No evidence that Ters money was paid to employees
A forensic analysis of the company’s bank statements also uncovered that there was no proof that any employee salaries were ever paid using the Ters money received from the UIF.
The court sentenced Moji to a fine of R178 128.36 for theft, or alternatively, four years’ imprisonment.
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For money laundering, she received a five-year prison sentence, wholly suspended for five years.
The Phuthaditjhaba Magistrate’s Court also fined Moji’s company R200 000 for theft and a further R200 000 for money laundering, with both fines wholly suspended for five years, provided the company does not commit the same offences during that period.
“The sentencing of Moji and her company is part of implementing the outcomes of the SIU investigation and ensuring consequence management,” Kganyago said.
