Byline: Thendo Funyufunyu
Tuesday, 26 April 2023
The Kriel Regional Court found Sifiso Jacob Masina (42) a former finance manager at the Kriel Power Station, guilty of fraud and theft and handed down a sentence on Tuesday, 25 April 2023.
The punishment came after a protracted inquiry that was conducted by the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime investigation in Nelspruit.
The suspect, a finance manager at Eskom Kriel Power, paid Mandlenkosi Logistics and Lusthala Supply & Transport without providing any services to Eskom between May 2011 and February 2012.
Investigations revealed that Mandlenkosi Logistics belonged to Masina, and Lusthala Supply & Transport belonged to Masina’s mother.
Both companies received payments from Eskom without rendering any services.
Due to the accused’s actions, Eskom actually lost R513 830, 00 as a result of the payments being facilitated by the Masina, who handled Kriel Power Station Finance throughout that time frame.
Masina was found guilty and given an 8-year sentence that was completely suspended for 5 years under the condition that the defendant did not have a fraud or theft conviction during the suspension.
In accordance with section 103 of the Act 60 of 2000, the accused was found to be unsuitable to possess a firearm and was further directed to pay back Eskom for R513 830.00.
The case was referred to the following specialised units for finance and assets investigation Priority Crime Specialised Investigation (PCSI), South African Revenue Services (SARS), Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC).
