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EX-GETBUCKS CFO ARRESTED FOR OVER E7.1M FRAUD

23/05/2024 09:08:00 Kwanele Dlamini

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MBABANE – GetBucks (Pty) Ltd’s former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Buhle Comfort Madonsela has been arrested for allegedly defrauding the company over E7.1 million.

GetBucks is a financial services provider established in 2014 and has branches in Mbabane, Matsapha, Siteki, Manzini and Nhlangano. It offers credit facilities to salaried individuals in the public and private sectors. GetBucks is a subsidiary of ESW Investment Group Limited. Madonsela’s arrest is subsequent to an interim High Court order that was obtained against him on April 18, 2024. The order interdicted him from disposing of a number of assets, which include two immovable properties - one situated at Woodlands in Mbabane and another at Sibonelo Township at Ngwenya, behind the Galp Filling Station. The court order also interdicted him from disposing of two motor vehicles; a VW Golf and an Isuzu double cab. The exact amount that Madonsela is alleged to have siphoned from the company is E7 185 839.31. It is alleged that he committed the offence between July 2021 and February 2024.

Assets

In the application to prevent him from selling the assets, which are believed to have been acquired through the alleged ill-gotten money, the court was informed that Madonsela fraudulently transferred different amounts of money into his personal account held with the First National Bank (FNB). It is alleged that in one instance, he purportedly transferred to his personal bank account a sum of E173 250.50, which he referenced as withholding tax arrears for the month of July. According to the court documents, on August 6, 2023, Madonsela allegedly transferred to his personal account a sum of E14 000, which he referenced Eswatini Air. On September 20, 2023, he is alleged to have transferred into his personal account, a sum of E4 751.23, which he allegedly referenced as Invoice 568. It was further alleged that on September 31, 2023, he fraudulently transferred into his account a sum of E16 965.89, which was referenced as a salary advance. The court documents further stated that on October 24, 2023, he allegedly fraudulently transferred into his personal bank account held with Standard Bank Eswatini a sum of E69 568.55, which was referenced as management salaries.

Transferred

In another instance, Madonsela allegedly unlawfully transferred the same amount into his personal account which he referenced as management payroll. At the time the application to prevent him from disposing of the assets was moved, the total amount of money Mandonsela was accused of having stolen was E4 million. The court was told that GetBucks was still awaiting its final audit or forensic report. The forensic was said to have revealed that the money that was purportedly stolen from the company ostensibly by Madonsela was E7 185 839.31. Civil summons were also issued against him on May 15, 2024, according to a statement. Investigations by the company resulted in disciplinary charges preferred against Madonsela in April 2024. He subsequently resigned on the second day of his disciplinary hearing.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued yesterday, the company stated that in January 2024, it received, through its whistle-blowing mechanism, information on suspicious transactions. “Subsequent internal audit investigations confirmed two unauthorised loan transactions that took place in December 2023 processed by the CFO, which unduly benefitted him in contravention of company’s policy,” it reads in part. It states that the former CFO was suspended from work in February 2024, pending finalisation of the investigation into his alleged misconduct. According to the company, preliminary findings identified a number of breaches that warranted that the matter be reported to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) Commercial Fraud Unit on February 26, 2024.

Confirmed

Madonsela’s arrest was confirmed by Acting Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni. In the statement, the company said it had since put remedial measures to prevent such an occurrence from taking place in future. The company said it had engaged South African forensic audit company, JKD Consulting, to conduct a comprehensive independent audit to investigate all transactions from 2021 to 2024. “All internal fraud risk management processes have also been reviewed and appropriate actions taken to prevent a re-occurrence of an incident of this nature in future,” reads the statement in part. “Criminal and civil proceedings supported by the independent forensic processes have been initiated to ensure full accountability and recovery to the best possible extent of all monies lost through this fraud. “The arrest of the former CFO on May 21, 2024 is noted as a key development in this regard and all efforts will not be spared in ensuring complete and unmitigated accountability through the courts of Eswatini.”

Commitment

On the other hand, the company had reaffirmed its commitment to help former Ecsponent/ESW investors recover monies they lost purportedly at the hands of the former shareholders.
“Despite this obvious and critical setback, all our stakeholders are assured that the Board of directors and management remain fully focussed on ensuring that the objective of assisting the investors to recover their losses remains an overriding imperative,” it states in the statement. “Despite this setback, the company remains determined to fulfil its original objective of assisting emaSwati who lost the investments, to recoup their losses.” It states: “The Board of directors takes the opportunity to thank the REPS and all stakeholders who have painstakingly worked from February 2024, towards assisting the company to get to the bottom of this very unfortunate and regrettable incident. “Additional appreciation is extended to the Investor Relations Committee (IRC) for providing the necessary guidance to the company since this matter came to their attention.”