UIF employs forensic auditors in drive to follow Covid-19 Ters payments

More than 360 forensic auditors deployed by the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) have started knocking on the doors of employers who benefited from the Covid-19 Temporary Employer-employee Relief Scheme (Ters) in 2020.

They have been employed to examine the companies’ financial records, verify the authenticity of their claims and confirm if the correct amounts were paid to workers at the right time. 

“The UIF has enlisted the services of seven companies with auditing, accounting and forensic investigation expertise to implement phase 2 of its 'follow the money' project which got underway in July 2022,” UIF spokesperson Trevor Hattingh said.

The project also entailed ensuring funds were not abused by employers and employees for whom claims were made were employed.

The audit companies enlisted are:

• The Accounting Village;
• NKS Chartered Accountants;
• Inqaba Kadiya Consulting;
• Leolo and Partners Chartered Accountants;
• Morobi Chartered Accountants;
• Ndemex Business Solutions; and
• Ligwa Advisory Services.

The UIF urged employers to grant auditors access to their premises and proactively prepare for the audits by having at least three month's pre-lockdown payroll reports, bank statements proving Ters funds were paid to employees, employee salary advice related to the payments and salary reconciliations readily available for the auditors.   

“It must be noted that the UIF is empowered to audit employers through the memorandum of agreement it signed with employers before the release of funds. Among other things, the memorandum authorises the UIF to audit the Ters benefit at any time.” 

UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping said over the past few months the UIF had seen some employers were convicted and jailed for Ters fraud.

“It is disturbing that the UIF is still receiving complaints about companies who have allegedly received Ters money but failed to pay it to workers.”

There were also claims some employers were only paying part of the money to workers.

“Of great concern to the UIF is a recent death threat made against one of our officials at the forefront of conducting the audits. We condemn this conduct and will not allow it to deter us from executing this important work,” Maruping said.

Phase 1 of the “follow the money” project saw the UIF auditing R14.1bn. Of the audited amount, R12.8bn was deemed accurate payments, R918m was recovered and R387m was suspected to be fraudulent payments and referred for further investigation.

Ten people have been sentenced for Ters-related offences.

Another 46 people suspected of committing Ters-related offences have been arrested and face prosecution.

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