Municipal payroll administrator's ghost employees cost him six-year sentence
Image: 123RF/3Drenderings
The Durban specialised commercial crimes court has sentenced a KwaZulu-Natal municipal official to six years' imprisonment for defrauding the Ndwedwe municipality of almost half a million rand.
The Hawks said on Sunday in 2015 and 2016 Nkosingizwile Gama, 38 was employed at the Ndwedwe local municipality as a payroll administrator.
He created ghost employees and used fictitious names to defraud the municipality of R488,142.
During the certification of salary payments, his supervisor noticed suspicious payments and a case of fraud was reported at Ndwedwe police station.
The case was later allocated to the Hawks.
On Friday Gama was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, of which two years were suspended for five years on condition he does not commit the same offence.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.