Cop in court as co-accused in KPMG R16.5m fraud case

A metro cop and his co-accused allegedly used their companies to siphon some of the R16,5m allegedly stolen from auditing firm KPMG and also tried to recruit others into the scheme. 

This was revealed at the Palm Ridge magistrate's court yesterday, where former KMPG employee Fidelis Moema appeared alongside his co-accused Trevor Machimana and Sgt Lebogang Sigubudu, a Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) cop.

Moema allegedly misdirected funds meant for bursary recipients and instead of paying university fees on behalf of students, he would allegedly pay the money into the bank accounts belonging to friends.

The state alleges that Sigubudu used a bank account of one of his six companies, Black Ant Suppliers, to receive R657,000 from Moema before he transferred back some of the money to the depositor [Moema] and kept some for his personal use.

Sigubudu from Mamelodi, north-east of Pretoria, also owns Sigubudu Recycling, Aga Le Light Steel Properties, Baiphapi, Basekhaya Supply and Fit and 786 House of Uhmah, which are based in Tshwane.

The deposits happened between May and November 2022. 

"The submission by Accused 3 [Sigubudu] that the state case is weak is not true [as] there is S236 documentary evidence and viva voce evidence in this regard.

"Accused 3 also recruited other people/companies such as Power of the People, a company whose director is Joseph Olifant, to use their company bank accounts to launder money from KPMG and they would send part of this money to Accused 3 who in turn would transfer the money to Accused 1 [Moema].

"These companies and their directors have already approached the state and made statements against Accused 3 and 1 on how they were used,|" read the court document.

Meanwhile, Sigubudu's employer, TMPD, said they were shocked to see him in court as he was expected to be on duty on Thursday  night. 

"When we became aware, we immediately appointed an investigating officer internally to open a case docket and follow up on the matter to obtain facts.

"We will study the docket and determine the way forward and we don't rule out the possibility of serving him with notice to explain to us why he should not be suspended while the matter is being investigated by SAPS and TMPD internally,” TMPD spokesperson Sen-Supt Isaac Mahamba said on Thursday.

In relation to Machimana, the state alleges that he used his company, Business Dynamics Synergies, to receive money from Moema. He transferred R880,375 back to Moema and kept some of the money for himself. Machimana is a director of seven companies. 

It was revealed in court through the investigating officer’s affidavit, read by state prosecutor Valencia Dube, that Machimana offered to turn state witness against Moema, but his offer was rejected as the state cited it have compelling evidence against Moema.

“The state has been approached by his [Machimana] legal counsel to become a possible witness against accused 1, which is also contained in his bail affidavit. However, the state has indicated we have more than enough evidence to secure a guilty conviction against accused 1 [Moema], and therefore this offer was declined,” read the affidavit. 

Dumisani Mabunda, legal representative for Sigubudu, read out his bail application affidavit and said his client denies the allegations against him.

"I did not commit this crime, I deny the allegations against me. I was shocked when I received a call from the investigation officer to say that I am linked to this crime. I immediately arranged to meet with him and I handed myself over to the police instead," he said.

In arguing against bail for the accused, Dube stated that state witnesses are known to Moema and there is a risk that he might try to get in contact with them. She also outlined the efforts Moema went through to commit his alleged crimes.

“There are ex-girlfriends of the accused he encouraged to register companies so that monies can be paid into these accounts. They are going to testify for the state.

"Depending on how much money you were willing to get into your account from KPMG, that determined how much you made...” said Dube.

Through his lawyer, Moema said he earns R68,000 per month at Nedbank where he works as a specialist recruiter for young talent, and has two properties, a house valued at R6,5m in Bryanston and a plot valued at R8m in Centurion, while his girlfriend earned R22,000.

He said he planned to plead not guilty to all charges and will not evade trial. 

In papers filed by Nedbank, it emerged that Moema was suspended by the bank for lying in his CV that he had resigned (and not fired) from KPMG. Moema is employed on one-year fixed-term contract at Nedbank that will come to an end this month.

Judgment on the bail application will be delivered on Friday.