Cape Town — Former KPMG employee, Fidelis Moema, was granted R50 000 bail after he appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Friday.
Moema, along with two of his co-accused – Trevor Machimana and Lebohang Sigubudu – are accused of stealing R16.5 million in bursary funds and all three face fraud, money laundering and theft charges, were granted bail of R50 000 each, The Citizen reported.
Moema is accused of embezzling funds that were intended for university students funded by KPMG. It is alleged that the former bursary specialist made over 400 fraudulent transactions to companies linked to his associates, amounting to R16.5 million. KPMG. This between the period fo 2019 and 2022.
He allegedly compelled his former partners to open and register companies in their names to launder money.
Former KPMG employee Fidelis Moema and his two co-accused have just been granted bail of R50 000 each. The trio are facing fraud, money laundering and theft charges related to bursary funds. @sholwana_z has more.
Watch: https://t.co/jML3MPpkyD#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/LkvvBcR1Sl
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) April 19, 2024
According to IOL, Moema was arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as the Hawks), after he handed himself over to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crimes Investigation team in Johannesburg.
Last week, KPMG said it fired Moema in November 2022 after an internal disciplinary process. It opened criminal charges against him in February last year.
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. KPMG also said it honoured all their commitments.
Machimane, one of the other two accused, is currently self-employed at Dynamic Energy and was arrested last Thursday and he was charged with fraud and money laundering. He also pleaded not guilty against the charges levelled against him, however, he admitted to the court that he has been close to Moema since 2017.
The third accused, Sibundu, a Tshwane Metro police officer is also accused of receiving money from the audit firm, KPMG and channelling it back to Moema, according to the State.
Moema, said that he intends not to plead guilty amid the charges levelled against him. The trio will be back in court on May 24.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
