Ex-Telkom official up for fraud

By Staff Writer for Telkom
Johannesburg, 18 Jul 2007

Former Telkom official Beauty Sonny Ramaisela, 35, briefly appeared in the Pretoria Commercial Crime Court yesterday in connection with alleged fraud of R400 000 at the fixed-line operator.

The Moreletta Park woman, described by police as a senior official, was arrested on 17 July by Commercial Branch detectives for reputedly defrauding Telkom during the course of 2004 and 2005.

"The accused allegedly opened bank accounts using false particulars and also caused Telkom to deposit huge amounts of money into those accounts," said police spokesman director Phuti Setati.

"The accused further allegedly made misrepresentations to the Telkom Credit Management Division, causing them to believe that payments in those fictitious accounts were legitimate," Setati adds.

The clients to whom the payments were made were either fictitious or did not actually receive the payment as arranged by the accused.

Ramaisela was released on R5 000 bail. The case was postponed to 5 September.

"The SAPS would like to reiterate that corruption is viewed in a very serious light and as a result the SAPS will stop at nothing in ensuring that perpetrators are exposed and dealt with accordingly," Setati says.