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Companies that received money through Covid-19 Temporary Assistance Plan for Employers and Employees (TERS) You can expect the visit of forensic auditors who will examine your financial records to verify the authenticity of your claims and verify if the money was paid to the workers.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) said it has appointed seven companies with experience in auditing, accounting and forensic investigation to ‘follow the money’ for all Covid-19 TERS payments.
The companies will help the FIU recover money owed by employers and report fraud to law enforcement institutions.
They will also help recover contributions from the FIU, including interest and penalties owed to the fund due to the declaration of new employees during the closing.
The FIU said that employers who benefited from TERS should prepare the following information, either manually or electronically:
- FIU Covid-19 TERS application package;
- Bank statements related to the Covid-19 TERS application;
- Each employee file;
- Payroll report from January 1, 2020 to July 2020.
Acting FIU Commissioner Marsha Bronkhorst said the fund is serious about eliminating fraud given the large number of complaints and allegations that some companies were stealing money that was intended for their workers.
“Over the past few months, we have seen to our great disappointment that some companies received the benefits of Covid-19 TERS, but did not pay them to their workers,” he said.
Bronkhorst said there are also allegations that employers were paying part of the money and not the full amount, as well as companies using the money for something other than its intended purpose.
“This week, the National Prosecutor’s Office froze R111 million from a businessman who allegedly claimed Covid-19 TERS for 6,600 people when he was the only worker.
“More cases will follow for those who tried to take a shortcut and will be held to account,” Bronkhorst said.
Bronkhorst said that since the beginning of the Covid-19 TERS benefit payments, the FIU has always been aware of potential fraud risks.
“Our intention, like the FIU, was always to support companies, workers and our economy during the closing, but the plan was always to conduct a comprehensive audit of all payments.
“Therefore, I urge all companies and employers that have benefited from Covid 19 TERS to cooperate with forensic auditors and provide all required information within the specified time frames.
“Failure to comply will lead to legal action,” said the acting commissioner.
The Covid-19 TERS Aid Plan was established to help employees who lost income during blackout periods. Since March 2020, just over R54 billion in 12,757,287 payments have been paid through more than 1 million employers.
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