EIGHT YEARS DIRECT IMPRISONMENT FOR FRAUDSTER
The Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has sentenced Rakesh Maharaj (44) to an effective eight-years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty (Section 112 Plea) to fraud valued at over R3.6 million, Corruption valued at about R2.1 million and money laundering. Maharaj worked as a logistics manager at CONSULENS Medical Healthcare Solutions (PTY) LTD. This company was subcontracted to supply medical equipment to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital (IALCH) within the Department of Health in KwaZulu-Natal. The company provided installation, service, maintenance and replacement of medical equipment and devices. Within his duties, Maharaj was responsible for authorising the replenishment of stock supplied by external service providers.
Between January 2015 and August 2017, Maharaj acted together with other employees within CONSULENS and external service providers and manipulated the CONSULENS stock accounting system to falsely indicate that medical supplies needed to be replenished. He then (acting in concert with others) facilitated the approval and payment of the fictitious invoices furnished by these service providers. Once the service providers were paid by CONSULENS, Maharaj received a portion of the funds as gratification for his role in the plan.
When CONSULENS received information from a whistle-blower, it launched an internal forensic investigation into allegations of fraud, fictitious invoicing, corruption, and money laundering. The Directorate of Priority Crime and Investigations (DPCI) then pursued a criminal investigation which led to Maharaj’s arrest together with the other employees of CONSULENS and the external service providers.
In a pre-sentence report submitted to the court, a Director from CONSULENS mentioned that the actions of Maharaj and his co-accused resulted in a considerable loss for the company, compromising its finances and threatening its ability to provide medical services and equipment to IALCH. Following his guilty plea, Maharaj was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for fraud (two years suspended for three years with conditions), ten years imprisonment for corruption (two years suspended for three years with conditions), and five years imprisonment for money laundering (wholly suspended for three years with conditions). The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, resulting in an effective sentence of eight years of direct imprisonment. In addition, Maharaj was deemed unfit to possess a firearm. Maharaj’s pension of R 639 000 (after Tax) was also retained and will be forfeited to CONSULENS. The case against Maharaj’s co-accused returns to court at the end of October. This matter was successfully prosecuted by Adv. Joel Kisten.
The NPA will continue to prosecute matters of this nature vigorously. By working together with the DPCI, and our partner stakeholders, we will ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
