69 years old woman jailed for defrauding SASSA
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A 69 years old woman has been sentenced to 10 years direct imprisonment for defrauding government, South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) , of money amounting to over R 120 000.00.
Henry Mamothame from the NPA said that the elderly woman, Sarathamoney Devi Sigamoney lied when submitting documents for old age grant on April 13th, 2017 by attaching a supporting affidavit wherein she stated that she has never worked for a period of 20 years.
A day later on 18 April, SASSA provided Sigamoney with a letter of approval, which she signed for as received.
“She is alleged to have received grant money from SASSA amounting to approximately R123 000, from July 2017 to July 2022. Subsequent to charges being registered against her, she continued to receive the grant for a further 16 months” said Mamothame.
“Although she is listed as the director of KJP Traders Pty and Matthew Pillay (her son), KJP is alleged to have conducted business with the state as early as 2012, preceding her application to SASSA.”
“Furthermore, the company is estimated to have cashed in approximately R88 million from the SAPS contracts, to which the last payment was in 2022.”
She was sentenced to a cumulative 10 years direct imprisonment on five charges that include perjury, fraud and theft.
