A company with just two cars — a pickup truck and a sedan — swindled Tiger Brands of more than R120m in a span of six years without providing the logistics services it purported to be supplying — that is because no such contract between it and the food producer existed.
Business Day understands that the mastermind behind the fraud is Gonaseelan Govender, a former senior manager in the finance department at Tiger Brands. He used Jocatus Transport, a company linked to him and his associate Savithree Samuel, as a front for the fraud.
Jocatus, with Samuel as its sole board member, issued 60 invoices to Tiger Brands from 2009 to 2014, claiming to have an enterprise development deal with the group. Tiger Brands paid Jocatus nearly R2m a month, totalling R121.6m.
However, no such contract existed between Jocatus and Tiger Brands. At the time of the transactions, Imperial was Tiger Brands’ logistics partner.
At the time of the alleged fraud, Govender was the financial manager of the snacks, treats and beverages division of Tiger Brands in Jacobs, Durban.
According to internal and external investigations, Govender forged an enterprise development agreement between Jocatus and Tiger Brands by forging the signature of the group’s head of procurement.
He also instructed Sugeshree Mewalall, a receptionist at Tiger Brands, to generate purchase orders in favour of Jocatus. Mewalall told investigators that Govender handed her the Jocatus invoices for processing and then approved the orders. Govender coded Jocatus on the face of the invoice for Mewalall to raise purchase order numbers and Govender would then release payments to Jocatus.
The scam was picked up when some of Govender’s colleagues noticed payments to Jocatus were charged to different financial accounts and purchase orders, which were described as either a “distribution allowance” or “provision of logistic services”.
This was irregular as a distribution allowance is only payable to customers or a third-party contracting firm to distribute products for Tiger Brands, and such allowance is not paid to logistics services providers.
The officials from the logistics department never saw the invoices and were not aware of services that were allegedly rendered, nor were they aware of the tonnage, number of loads and rate of pay per load that was charged for the services.
Govender was later dismissed by Tiger Brands, which lodged a criminal case against him and Jocatus.
A probe by the Hawks shows Jocatus was first incorporated in September 1995. Govender was listed as its accounting officer and resigned from the role in March 2014, five years into the scheme. The investigation also showed that Jocatus did not have any expenses or assets related to a transport business.
A forensic investigation of Jocatus’ bank account shows several people received funds.
Samuel and her sons Caleb, Titus and Joash saw millions of rand flow through their accounts. Govender’s brother Dhruvasen and his wife, Sally, bought a house in Umhlanga.
Jocatus also made payments to Govender’s associates Maligavathee Naidoo and Lingasphrie Pillay.
An analysis done on Jocatus’ account and how money flowed showed the following:
From August 4 2009 to October 27 2011, Samuel made 23 payments to Govender totalling R6.9m. For the period from February 3 2010 to November 14 2013, Naidoo’s FNB account received 192 payments totalling R86.7m. Naidoo then made 66 payments totalling R52.2m to Govender’s Standard Bank account.
Investigators found that Naidoo attempted to avoid creating a link between her, Jocatus, Govender and Tiger Brands. Naidoo was also found to have made 35 payments, into Samuel’s account totalling R6.4m. Naidoo also paid R2m in 2023 to a firm of attorneys for the transfer of the Umhlanga property to Govender’s brother.
The police concluded that money movement from Samuel’s and Naidoo’s bank accounts indicates efforts by Samuel to distance the source of money in her bank account from that of Jocatus’ bank account. Investigators found that Naidoo’s two FNB accounts were used to receive money from Jocatus and then pay it to Samuel and Govender.
Jocatus paid Pillay R28.6m in 17 payments over two years. Of this, R22m was paid to a Sanlam Glacier Investment account and R2.2m to Govender. An analysis of the Sanlam investment account shows it was for the benefit of Caleb, who made nine withdrawals totalling R14.4m.
A close inspection of Caleb’s FNB bank account shows he effected payments to different persons, including his bother Joash to whom he paid R3.3m. Caleb and Joash also brought several properties believed to be proceeds from Tiger Brands.
Preservation order
Business Day has learnt that the Asset Forfeiture Unit on Friday obtained a preservation order against the Govender and Samuels families in an attempt to recoup some money.
Govender died in a suspected suicide in 2016, when police began investigating the matter.
His brother, Dhruvasan, said his brother bought him the house under the pretence that it was a reward for him taking care of their mother.
“My only link to this case is that house that was bought in 2013. If I knew about my brother’s fraudulent acts, why would we register the house under our own names, instead of a CC [close corporation] or company? Why didn’t I sell the house for R2.8m when I received an offer to buy it from Pam Golding before I was served with a preservation order?”
He does not believe Govender took his own life. “As for my brother’s death, it is still being investigated. There are results that are still outstanding but I will give you something to think about. He gives commercial crimes two affidavits the day before he was going to be charged in the commercial crimes court,” he said.
“In those affidavits are the names of the individuals involved and how these fraudulent acts were committed. He suddenly dies the same night. I had not spoken to my brother for two years prior to his death. I had to find the place he lived in. No man lays out his suit and irons his shirt for the next day if he was going to commit suicide.
“I do not care what you write about me. My family and I have suffered more than anyone deserves to suffer.
“I was homeless. My greater family does not talk to me. My friends do not talk to me. I am a pariah and have been ostracised from society even though I am innocent.”
An attorney representing the Samuel family did not respond to questions.
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