Mark Jonathan Vorster (45), has been sentenced to an effective six year jail term for defrauding the Unemployment Insurance Fund, Temporary Employment Relief Scheme during the height of Covid-19 pandemic in August 2020.
Mark Jonathan Vorster, who was a chartered accountant during the commission of the crime, submitted fraudulent UIF-TERS claims on behalf of five companies that were using his services as an accountant and bookkeeper.
This he did without the knowledge nor consent from the directors the companies.
Vorster unduly benefited just under R900 000-00 from the fraudulent transaction which he used for his own benefit.
Almost half of the amount was preserved following a court order but he had already spent the other amount. The Hawks’ arrested Vorster on 21 July 2021. Faced with indomitable evidence he elected to plead guilty on all eleven counts of fraud, two counts of theft and one count of money laundering.
The court has on Wednesday, 8 March 2023, sentenced him to six years imprisonment.
Vorster has additionally been disbarred to practice as a Chartered Accountant in the future.
He was further ordered to pay back the amount he squandered from the Department of Employment and Labour.
