The EMPD management has finally revealed that one of its senior members is implicated in fraud pertaining to payment for overtime.
This came after fed-up colleagues blew the whistle on the senior EMPD officer’s alleged fake overtime claims and requested an investigation be done last year.
The official, who is an officer in the EMPD Accident Unit, is accused of forging documents to collect money as overtime pay for duties he did not perform.
READ ORIGINAL STORY: Colleagues blow the whistle on senior EMPD officer’s fake overtime
Following the claims, the Advertiser approached the EMPD and requested information regarding the matter, in early December last year.
The department’s management, however, claimed that it was not aware of anyone being accused of fraudulently documenting overtime hours in its unit.
The Advertiser persisted with its enquiries until the department, on February 9, confirmed that the matter had been reported to EMPD Internal Affairs and that an investigation had been launched.
According to the EMPD spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Wilfred Kgasago, it has recently come to his attention that the matter was reported to senior management, and there have been significant developments made with regard to the investigation into the reports of fraud.
“The investigations have been completed and a docket has been submitted to Labour Relations for disciplinary processes to be initiated. “The status, currently, is that the department is awaiting the appointment of both the presiding and presenting officers for the process to commence.
The whistleblowers said they are concerned that the official in question has not been suspended and feel that the department is not treating its staff members equally.
This is because, in the past, other officials who were accused of wrongdoing were suspended immediately after their improper conduct was reported.
The Advertiser is in possession of some of the documents submitted as evidence that the officer in the EMPD Accident Unit was submitting fake overtime entries.
The accusations stem from a July 2017 accident scene which the accused reportedly claimed he attended to supervise other members who were deployed to perform an accident scene investigation.
The members who attended the scene have, however, made statements indicating that the official in question never actually attended this nor other accident scenes he claimed to have attended. -@MthuphaFanie
