A foreign national has been sentenced in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in Gauteng on Thursday on charges of fraud, identity theft, and contravention of the Immigration Act.
Prince Mbaiwa from Zimbabwe defrauded the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
The provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as Hawks), Warrant Officer Wendy Nkabi, said Mbaiwa applied for UIF as a temporary employee during the National State of Disaster on November 26, 2022.
“The application was then submitted by his employer, San Antonio at Spur restaurant in Sandton, using fraudulent identity documents belonging to Kabole James Puane, and he benefited an amount of R7,594.64,” Nkabi said.
She said an intense investigation was conducted by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team based in Johannesburg.
“It was discovered that the suspect is a foreign national who secured employment at the Spur restaurant in Rosebank as a manager,” Nkabi said.
Mbaiwa was convicted of fraud, theft of identity, and contravention of the Immigration Act on Thursday, October 19.
The court sentenced Mbaiwa to six years imprisonment for fraud, three months imprisonment for theft of identity and to be deported to Zimbabwe, and eight months imprisonment for contravention of the Immigration Act, with sentences to run concurrently.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL