Durban - Twenty-one people in KwaZulu-Natal suspected of allegedly submitting fake claims to the Department of Labour’s Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and Compensation Fund (CF) in the current financial year have been charged with fraud.
The department said on Tuesday that its risk management unit, along with police, made the arrests and some cases were before the court.
In a statement, the Labour Department’s assistant director at risk management, Mlungisi Zondi, said the potential loss was about R2 million in cases investigated this financial year.
A statement by the department said: “In the most recent case last month, a woman made enquiries at the Prospecton Labour Centre about the status of her UIF claim, not knowing that had it been flagged for possible fraud.
“Officials immediately contacted risk management officials who questioned the woman and she was unable to give the address of her supposed employer, her job title and duties. She eventually confessed and was arrested and charged.”
In a separate case, a woman was arrested after she enquired about her UIF claim from a company that had no record of her working there.
Zondi said officials at labour centres were now better equipped to detect possible fraud.
Anyone with knowledge of fraudulent claims can
call the number 08600 22 194 or e-mail: [email protected].