Power utility Eskom has been granted an order against a former middle-management accountant, who has to pay back over R500,000 that he stole from the company through fraudulent activity.<\/p>\n
According to Eskom, the former employee worked as an accountant at the middle-management level at Kriel Power Station.<\/p>\n
An Eskom investigation found that the former employee created invoices and submitted them for payment as if work had been done when, in fact, there was no work done.<\/p>\n
As a result, Eskom incurred a financial loss of R513,630.<\/p>\n
The money was channelled through the suppliers and was withdrawn as cash by companies, of which the employee had direct control.<\/p>\n
The worker resigned from Eskom with immediate effect on 27 November 2012, pending a disciplinary process after a forensic investigation into financial misconduct had been concluded. He was then found guilty on all charges of financial misconduct during a disciplinary hearing conducted in his absence on 7 December 2012.<\/p>\n
A case of fraud, to which he pleaded guilty on 20 July 2022, was registered with the South African Police Service in December 2012. He was subsequently found guilty by the Kriel Regional Court on 26 April 2023 and was sentenced to eight years in prison, wholly suspended for five years, on certain conditions, including that he repaid Eskom.<\/p>\n
The judge ordered that the employee make an immediate payment of R30,000 and 48 instalments of R10,000 a month until 1 April 2027 to settle the remaining balance.<\/p>\n
“Eskom is disappointed that someone in a position of trust defrauded the organisation,” it said.<\/p>\n
“The organisation continues to improve its internal controls to prevent incidents such as this from reoccurring. Among these is the implementation of the Fraud Risk Prevention Plan to maximise fraud prevention and enhance good corporate governance practices.<\/p>\n
“The implementation of the plan is monitored by the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Integration Committee (AFCIC), which also ensures integration between forensic, legal, ethics, industrial relations and supplier review functions. Progress is reported to the Eskom executive committee and the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) on a regular basis.”<\/p>\n
In addition, the AFCIC is assessing Eskom\u2019s alignment with the goals and purpose of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development\u2019s (OECD) recommendations on anti-corruption, which will be used to identify further areas for improvement in the Fraud Risk Prevention Plan.<\/p>\n