MANZINI – A senior civil servant has been arrested and charged with 106 counts of corruption, fraud, theft and money laundering, following an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Thulani Richard Ashley Kunene, a Senior Extension Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, was apprehended after the ACC obtained an arrest warrant from Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala. He has been charged for allegedly defrauding government of at least E133 900 in total.
According to the charge sheet, Kunene is accused of a systematic scheme of corruption. The document outlines a pattern where Kunene allegedly received cash payments from Mncedisi Trevor Mabuza of Vibrant Mushrooms, a mushroom farmer procuring goods and services from the Ministry of Agriculture.
The modus operandi allegedly involved Kunene giving out and pretending that he was the authorised person to receive these payments on behalf of government. He would allegedly then reportedly prepare or cause to be prepared fake tax invoices, which were not authorised government receipts.
As a result of this fraudulent conduct, the monies paid by the farmer were diverted from government revenue, depriving the public of funds to which it was entitled.
The charges detail a pattern of fraudulent activity dating back to 2017, where the accused allegedly siphoned thousands of Emalangeni from government revenue.
Kunene is accused of a systematic scheme that began on or about February 20, 2017, and continued through to at least November of the same year.
According to court documents, Kunene allegedly exploited his position at the Mushroom Development Section of the Ministry of Agriculture at Malkerns Research Station.
His alleged scheme involved masquerading as the authorised person to collect payments from clients, specifically the mushroom farmer.
The accused is alleged to have prepared and issued counterfeit tax invoices, which were stamped with what appeared to be an official Ministry of Agriculture date stamp.
These fraudulent invoices were then reportedly presented to Mabuza, who, believing he was paying government for goods and services, handed over cash directly to Kunene. It is further alleged that Kunene was aware that he was not authorised to receive these funds and that the invoices were not official government receipts.
As a result, the money, which should have been deposited into government coffers, was allegedly diverted for his personal use, depriving the public revenue of its rightful earnings.
For each corruption count, Kunene also faces alternative charges of fraud and theft. The charge sheet specifies that his actions in deceiving Mabuza and diverting the funds constitute fraud. The act of unlawfully and intentionally stealing the money, depleting government’s general pool of funds, forms the basis for the theft charges.
Furthermore, Kunene is charged with money laundering, having allegedly acquired, possessed and used the fraudulently obtained cash, knowing that it was derived from an unlawful activity.
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