IOL reports that a 37-year-old company director made her first appearance in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court charged with defrauding the Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (Ters).

Phathiswa Bodlani was arrested by Hawks members from Durban Serious Corruption Investigation. Spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo advised: “It is alleged that between April 2020 and August 2020 her company registered 49 employees at the Department of Labour for Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). She allegedly claimed R1,009,338 for the Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) payment. The department later discovered that some of the registered employees were not working for her company and a case of fraud was reported at Durban Central SAPS and the case docket was allocated to Hawks members for further probe.” Bodlani was released on R5,000 bail and will appear in court on May 20.

• Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Jolene Marriah-Maharaj at IOL

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