A company director from Kimberley was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to 49 charges of fraud on behalf of his company Botsho Botle CC and 50 counts of money laundering.

Between April 2020 and December 2020, Thabo Thobeli (59) served as a director of an entity known as Botsho Botle CC. The company submitted fraudulent Covid-19 Temporary Employment Relief Fund claims to the Department of Labour.

Thobeli forged payslips and made submissions on behalf of individuals as though they worked for his company through misrepresentation.

The Department of Labour made a payment to Thobeli’s company upon receipt of fraudulent documents, suffering a loss of R145 000, which was paid to the company but never reached the beneficiaries for whom the claim was made.

Court proceedings and sentencing

Thobeli made a brief appearance before the Kimberley Serious Commercial Crimes Court on Monday 25 May and pleaded guilty to the charges.

On Tuesday 21 July, the court sentenced the main accused, Botsho Botle CC, to a fine of R50 000, which is wholly suspended for five years, said Lieutenant Colonel Tebogo Thebe, spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks).

Accused number two, Thobeli, was sentenced to 36 months’ direct imprisonment and fined R50 000 for contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. The fine is wholly suspended for five years, while Thobeli will serve an effective three-year sentence.

The Northern Cape head of the Hawks, Major General Stephen Mabuela, welcomed the sentence and said: “Our commitment to properly investigate COVID-19 cases remains. Those who unduly benefitted will face the full might of the law.”

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