Woman jailed for fraud worth R1, 1 million
Since she had full access to the bank account, she used the funds paid by Greys Hospital (into that account) for her own personal use.
The Pietermaritzburg Specialised Commercial Crimes’ Court sentenced Charity Moloi (43) to eight years direct imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraud and one count of money laundering. The fraud amounted to approximately R1, 1 million.
In her plea, Moloi said that during the period of September 1, 2020, to April 9, 2021, she worked as the acting finance manager at Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg. She said that while her job entailed advising the cash flow committee on whether there were funds available for work to be done by Greys Hospital, she was aware that her duties did not include approving any orders placed by Greys Hospital.
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In addition, she said that she used the company, Grace SN Projects 53 to commit the fraudulent activities against the hospital. She had access to the bank account and bank card of Grace SN Projects. She admitted in her plea that she used this company even though she knew that it was not a legitimate supplier to Greys Hospital.
During the period mentioned above, Moloi placed fraudulent orders for various medical related items such as sterile gauze, paper towels, surgical wound dressings, etc, with Grace SN Projects.
She further forged the signatures of her relevant colleagues for the authorisation of the orders and the confirmation of the receipt of the goods. Moloi used Grace SN Projects’ bank account to receive the funds from the hospital for the orders she had fraudulently placed. In her plea, she said that while Grace SN had other directors, they did not know about her unlawful activities.
Since she had full access to the bank account, she used the funds paid by Greys Hospital (into that account) for her own personal use.
“Her unlawful actions were discovered by the supply chain section at the hospital (due to the non-delivery of the items), and she was arrested.
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Moloi was sentenced to four years imprisonment on each of the eight counts of fraud, and 4 years imprisonment for money laundering. While the cumulative sentence is 36 years imprisonment, the court ordered that some of the sentences run concurrently, resulting in the effective sentence of eight years imprisonment. In addition, she was declared unfit to possess a firearm. This matter was finalised by Prosecutor Sara Parak,” said regional spokesperson of the National Prosecuting Authority, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara.
The NPA welcomes the finalisation of this matter.
It hopes that cases of this nature serve as a deterrent to like-minded individuals.
