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- An SSA employee accused of defrauding the intelligence agency of more than R1.1 million failed to appear in court on Monday.
- It is alleged the accused had gone into isolation after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for SARS-CoV2.
- The State alleged Thuso Leonard Oesi defrauded the SSA by creating fictitious payments for training he never attended, but pocketed the money instead.
A criminal case against a State Security Agency (SSA) employee - who has been charged with more than two dozen counts of fraud, forgery and uttering - was postponed as he is allegedly in isolation after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for SARS-CoV2.
Thuso Leonard Oesi was meant to appear in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria on Monday.
However, Oesi failed to appear.
According to his attorney, Oesi was not present as he had been in contact with someone who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which causes Covid-19.
READ | Security minister says transgressors within the SSA are being dealt with
The State requested that the case be postponed and a warrant of arrest be authorised but stayed until Oesi's next appearance. The case was postponed to 17 June.
Charges
According to the charge sheet, Oesi is accused of defrauding the SSA of around R1.1 million between August 2019 and February 2020.
It is alleged Oesi, who is employed as an SAP system administrator at the SSA, created fictitious payment advance authorisations to himself for training courses.
He allegedly did this by:Compiling a request to attend training courses by external service providers;
Attaching a copy of a printed approval by the acting head of the intelligence academy;
Requesting a temporary cash advance from the finance claims unit using forms appearing to be approved by the Acting Chief Information Officer, who was his superior at the time;
Requesting that the payment by EFT be made into his personal bank account; and,
Presenting invoice from the training provider, a form settling the claim, and a request to clear and settle the debt in his name.
The State alleged Oesi then reversed the payments on the SSA system to reflect that no funds were due and payable by him and the courses had been attended.
However, the State claimed Oesi never attended any courses and the money meant for training was pocketed.
In addition, Oesi, who received a monthly salary of R46 266, allegedly amended the payment system to reflect a net salary of R80 268.71 in January 2020 and then R174 141.21 in February.
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He has been charged with seven counts of fraud, three of contravening the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, nine of forgery and nine of uttering of a fraudulent document.
News24 reported in April that State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo was "encouraged" that intelligence officials involved in wrongdoing were being prosecuted.
Dlodlo said all reported transgressions were being pursued, and all wrongdoing, even by those not mentioned in the testimonies at the Zondo Commission, was being investigated and would be prosecuted without fail.
The minister referenced the arrest of Oesi and Kgaogelo Bopape who worked as a secretary at the SSA.
"I am pleased that we, on our own, have been able to successfully investigate and report some of these corrupt activities in the agency," Dlodlo said.
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