Mbabane- The Eswatini Television Authority (ESTVA) has suspended five employees pending investigations into allegations that they forged official payslips which were allegedly used to secure loans from financial institutions.
Information gathered by Independent News indicates that the said employees were recently suspended after allegations emerged that they had allegedly produced fraudulent payslips and used them to apply for loans from financial institutions.
The identities of the employees are known to this publication but are being withheld because the matter remains under investigation and no criminal charges have been announced.
The suspensions have sparked concern over whether the alleged forgery was an isolated incident or points to deeper weaknesses within ESTVA’s payroll administration.
In an effort to establish the facts, Independent News submitted a detailed questionnaire to the public broadcaster seeking confirmation that the five employees had indeed been suspended over the allegations.
The publication also sought to establish whether preliminary investigations had determined if the suspected forgery involved only the suspended employees or formed part of a wider scheme that may have compromised the organisation’s payroll system.
Further questions were directed at ESTVA on the measures it is taking to protect the integrity of its payroll processes and to prevent the misuse of official salary documents by employees.
The broadcaster was also asked whether it had reported the matter to law enforcement agencies and whether affected financial institutions had been informed of the alleged fraudulent documents.
By the time of publication, ESTVA had not responded to the questions.
Discussion about this post