FORMER MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEE AND COMPANY SENTENCED FOR FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING

By: Neo Ntsele

Thabo Mosupa (45), a former employee of Thabo Mofutsanyana Local Municipality, along with his company, The Seven One Stop (Pty) Ltd, appeared for sentencing at the Bethlehem Commercial Crimes Court after being convicted on several counts of fraud and money laundering.

The case dates back to 2017, when the Thabo Mofutsanyana Local Municipality made a payment exceeding R1.4 million to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA).

The payment was initially deposited into a Nedbank account but was returned to the municipality after it was discovered that the account was invalid.

The municipality then transferred the funds to an FNB account, which was thought to belong to COIDA.

It was later found that the account did not belong to COIDA, as confirmed by the Department of Employment and Labour, which stated that the compensation payment had not been received. The department also provided the correct banking details, which were for an ABSA account.

Following this discovery, the municipality initiated an internal investigation to determine what had occurred.

A criminal case was then opened and referred to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation in Bethlehem for further inquiry, which uncovered that the FNB account where more than R1.4 million was transferred was connected to The Seven One Stop (Pty) Ltd, a company owned by Mosupa.

He was arrested and made several appearances before the Bethlehem Commercial Crimes Court until his conviction.

The court sentenced Mosupa to five years of imprisonment for fraud and money laundering.

The Seven One Stop (Pty) Ltd received a R700,000 fine, wholly suspended for five years, provided the company is not convicted of fraud or theft during the suspension period.