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26 Mar 2012

Jury Sehunoe (34), a physiotherapist operating from Rustenburg in the North West accused of defrauding the Department of Labour’s (DoL) Compensation Fund about R2, 6 million is expected to be sentenced in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court on (Wednesday) March 28.

Sehunoe pleaded guilty last year to 15 counts of fraud and 26 counts of money laundering. He was charged with two co-defendants Maxwell Ramaphosa and Samuel Mfeleng, former civil servants who previously worked for the Department of Labour’s Compensation Fund.

He decided to break ranks from fellow accused and pleaded guilty. Ramaphosa and Mfeleng are out on a bail of R3000 each. They are yet to plead. In a separation of trial their case was transferred to the Pretoria Magistrate Court. Ramaphosa and Mfeleng are also embroiled in two other fraud cases.

Sehunoe was supposed to have been sentenced in January; however proceedings were halted by the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) in the Office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions which filed for an application to conduct an inquiry into his asset base. On February 3, the AFU issued a statement that in terms of the Organised Crimes Act it has seized Sehunoe’s property worth R2,1 million which included a house, household items as well as two vehicles.

The fraudster was working in collaboration with alleged fellow co-accused (Ramaphosa and Mfeleng) to siphon the Department of Labour millions of rands of public funds by claiming money for treatment to patients that was never done and using intricate means to siphon payments into own accounts.

The laundered money was deposited into Sehunoe’s personal account and that of his driving school, maintenance/construction businesses.

The Compensation Fund is a public entity under the authority of the Department of Labour. Its duty is to insure workers against injuries and diseases sustained at work.

Enquiries:
Page Boikanyo
Cell: 082 809 3195

Issued by: Department of Labour
26 Mar 2012

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