Ex-Community Crime Prevention Organisation Amanzimtoti employees to appear for fraud
The two employees allegedly involved in fraud were employed for years by the CCPO.
ON APRIL 23, two former Community Crime Prevention Organisation Amanzimtoti (CCPO) employees will appear in the Amanzimtoti Magistrate’s Court to face fraud charges.
Also read: Couple arrested in Amanzimtoti for accommodation fraud
This comes after the office-based former employees, a man and a woman, allegedly stole money meant for the CCPO by replacing the CCPO’s banking details on invoices with their own. The accused cannot be named until they appear in court.
CCPO’s committee member Paul O’Neill said the elaborate scheme saw the duo allegedly colluding to invoice clients on behalf of the company but channelling the payments to other accounts. He said red flags were raised after some inconsistencies with office petty cash became apparent in October 2022.
“This was when we started looking into it. We noticed that on some of the invoice statements, everything was correct except for the account number, meaning the money wasn’t coming to us but was being paid to a different account,” said O’Neill.
When the employees were approached with the evidence, O’Neill said they both admitted to the crime before abruptly resigning. A case was opened at the Amanzimtoti Police Station, and formal investigations started.
O’Neill said that while the CCPO employed the two former employees for years, the investigations only went as far back as 12 months. They have been charged with 65 counts of fraud. An auditor who checked the books also confirmed that fraud had been committed. CCPO does not count on ever recovering the alleged stolen money, but it hopes for justice to be served.
“As a non-profit organisation, we rely on this money to pay for cars, buy fuel, salaries, radios, uniforms and more. All we want is a conviction,” he said.
After the incident, O’Neill said systems have been tightened at the office to prevent a similar occurrence. CCPO thanked the police for a thorough investigation.
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