By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The court case of Auditing Firm KPMG bursary specialist, Fidelis Moema, has been postponed to 9 April 2024 for formal bail application.
This after Moema, who faces charges of theft, fraud, and money laundering, appeared at the Palm Ridge Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday, 2 April 2024.
Moema handed over himself to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crimes Investigation team in Johannesburg.
According to a statement from the South African Police Service (SAPS), Moema is accused of misdirecting funds intended for bursary recipients between 2021 and 2022.
“Instead of paying university fees on behalf of students, the accused would pay the money into the bank accounts belonging to friends and individuals who own companies. The money would then be paid back into his personal bank account,” police said in a statement.
According to SAPS, Moema’s fraudulent actions led to the audit firm suffering a loss of R16.5 million.
In a statement released on Friday, the auditing firm said that it dismissed Moema on November 11 2022 following a stringent disciplinary process related to non-compliance with firm policies.
“Subsequent to his dismissal, KPMG identified potential fraud committed by Moema and immediately initiated an internal forensic investigation. This investigation uncovered fraudulent behaviour related to bursary funds and as a result, we reported the matter to the relevant law enforcement authorities in February 2023,” the firm said.
During the investigation, KPMG said that it identified that Moema was allegedly colluding with external parties and no other parties within the firm were identified.
While KPMG had internal controls in place to mitigate such issues, the forensic investigation performed identified improvements and additional measures of control have been implemented since discovery of this issue.”
Regarding approved bursaries, KPMG said they were not impacted and they have honoured all their commitments.
“The bursary programme will continue to support students in enhancing the profession. The most disappointing aspect of this situation is the lost opportunity to assist additional students.”
KPMG CEO Ignatius Sehoole, added that the company takes a zero-tolerance approach to unethical behaviour.
“Any person found to be involved in it will be dealt with. I remain firm in this endeavour and as a firm we continue to drive an agenda underpinned by ethics and accountability, “said Sehoole.