NGO EMPLOYEE ACCUSED OF SWINDLING E1.9M COVID-19 RELIEF MONEY

MANZINI – An employee of an organisation tasked with dispersing COVID-19 relief of cash transfers to hairdressing salon owners and pregnant women, allegedly swindled E1.9 million.

The non-governmental organisation (NGO), whose name is known to this publication, was one of the entities enlisted to disburse cash-relief benefits to people who were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was alleged that the officer of the NGO was tasked with disbursing the cash relief to beneficiaries operating hairdressing salons in an effort to cushion them from the partial lockdowns which stifled their means of earning a living together with pregnant women, but did not remit to the beneficiaries the authorised amount.

Depositing

These parties were reportedly entitled to E3 500 apiece; however, the said officer was said to have, instead of depositing the aforementioned amount, offered them an amount of E500.
These claims, which have become a subject of a police investigation, date back to the advent of COVID-19 in 2020. Sources close to the matter claim that the officer deposited the E500 and from those wherein the E3 500 was deposited, the employee of the NGO would then engage them to send her back E3 000. This was reported to have been the cause of her mission being foiled as one of the beneficiaries, from whom the officer was demanding that she sends back a portion of the money, reported the matter to the police.

Registering

It was purported that this led to a high number of people registering the same concerns which included that they were either requested to return a portion of their benefit or were offered E500 instead of the E3 500. The complainants were said to have registered statements with the police at various stations as they were scattered all over the country. The sources claimed that there were also beneficiaries who were removed from the list of the people who were to get the cash-relief. Those who were removed from the list were reportedly replaced, among others, with relatives and acquaintances of the officer. This publication gathered that during investigations, it was established that the cellphone number which was used to disburse the cash, through the mobile banking application provided by one of the local mobile telephone companies, had been deregistered.

The sources said an investigation of the names and contacts of the beneficiaries who had received cash from this contact resulted in some people acquainted to the officer being found as recipients of the exercise. It was alleged that one of the beneficiaries at some point alleged to have received the benefit from one of the senior employees of the NGO. However, the sources claimed that the beneficiary later changed tune when called to the Mbabane Police Station to identify the said senior officer of the NGO. To date, according to sources, the amount suspected to have been defrauded from beneficiaries is about E1.9 million. Based on rough calculations by this publication, this means that over 630 people were offered E500 instead of the designated amount.

Meanwhile, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that the police were investigating such a matter. Given that this is an ongoing investigation, Vilakati could not share details and or the modus operandi of the fraud at the time. She had been sought for comment on the amount the beneficiaries were allegedly defrauded and also the number of beneficiaries who had since registered statements with the police.

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