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Bookkeeper Lindelani Gumede Sentenced to 135 Years for Defrauding Covid-19 Relief Fund

Lindelani Gumede, a bookkeeper who defrauded the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) of more than R11 million, has been sentenced to 135 years in prison.

On Thursday, the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court handed the harsh sentence to the bookkeeper for defrauding the UIF of more than R11 million in Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) funds.

According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, some sentences will run concurrently, and Gumede will serve 20 years in prison.

Lindelani Gumede, who was arrested in August last year in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal following a Hawks investigation, processed fraudulent TERS claims on behalf of four Gauteng bakeries, including Country Pies and LPG Clotilda.

He worked for the bakeries as a private bookkeeping consultant.

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