A Durban couple this week pleaded guilty in a specialized white-collar crimes court to stealing R13.7 million from the KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society between 2012 and 2019.
Ruvanya Ramiah , 31, a former company employee, and her husband Ayush Rambally, 32, pleaded guilty to fraud and theft respectively on Tuesday.
Ramiah pleaded guilty to 354 counts of fraud totaling more than $12 million Rand guilty, while Rambally pleaded guilty to 79 larceny totaling approximately R1.7 million.
According to National Attorney General Natasha Kara, Ramiah stated that from March 2012 to February 2019 was employed by the company as a tax officer. Her responsibilities included salary payments and general payments, and she had access and control over the company’s bank accounts.
She committed fraud by paying herself double and sometimes more inflated salaries in the same month. She also created false payments to suppliers and fabricated evidence to support those payments. The money went into her and her husband’s bank accounts.
In his pleading, Rambally said he took the money knowing that since he was neither an employee nor a creditor of the company, he was not entitled to it.
“He admitted to being aware that his actions were unlawful and aimed at depriving society of funds that he would use for his and his wife’s ends,” Kara said.
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The matter has been remanded until August 4 for pre-trial and correctional reports.
The couple will remain in custody having previously been refused bail.
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