A 48-year-old Malawian-born permanent South African resident, his 48-year-old South African wife, and his 39-year-old South African-born brother-in-law are expected to appear before the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday following their arrest in connection with alleged fraud and money laundering activities dating back to 2020.
According to Mpumalanga SAPS Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Magonseni Nkosi, information received, the main suspect, who is a director of a construction company, allegedly unduly benefited from the COVID-19 Temporary Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) administered through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), resulting in an actual loss of R26 943 793.19 to the UIF.
“The company allegedly claimed benefits for more than 700 ghost employees. A joint investigation conducted by the Hawks’ Nelspruit-based Serious Corruption Investigation, the Unemployment Insurance Fund, the Special Investigating Unit, and the National Prosecuting Authority Asset Forfeiture Unit revealed that the funds were channelled into various bank accounts, including those belonging to the company director, his wife and her company, as well as his brother-in-law, allegedly for personal enrichment,” said Nkosi.
Nkosi also said further investigations indicated that the funds were used to acquire various movable and immovable assets.
“It is further alleged that the brother-in-law played a significant role in recruiting individuals under false promises of employment. Some of the identification particulars used in the claims allegedly belonged to former employees of the company. The investigation culminated in the arrest of the three suspects, who handed themselves over to the Hawks on Sunday, 17 May 2026,” Nkosi said.
“The suspects were processed and are expected to appear before the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 18 May 2026.”
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