MARYLAND (WBFF) — A man pled guilty to charges stemming from a cross-county unemployment insurance fraud scheme, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office of Maryland.
Akinpelumi Olawale Oyewusi, 60, who was residing in Hyattsville, Maryland, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
From September 2020 through March 2021, officials reported that Oyewusi and others conspired to defraud state workforce authorities, including the Maryland Department of Labor and the California Employment Development Department, to obtain fraudulent unemployment insurance funds, according to the guilty plea.
Oyewusi and his co-conspirators used real identities to obtain fraudulent unemployment insurance from Maryland and other states.
After obtaining access to these funds, Oyewusi transferred or withdrew them via electronic transfers or an ATM.
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THE ISUZU MOTORS PAYROLL FRAUD (GQEBERHA, SA)
Date: February 16, 2026 Perpetrator: Natasja Slabbert (42)
Case Description: In a case that hit home for the Eastern Cape business community, Natasja Slabbert, a payroll administrator at Isuzu Motors South Africa’s Struandale plant, was arrested for an alleged R10.5 million fraud. The scheme, which began surfacing in late 2024, exploited the very systems designed to manage employee compensation. Slabbert allegedly manipulated payroll records to create false entries that appeared as legitimate deductions and contributions on employee payslips. In reality, these “deductions” were being diverted into her personal bank account.
The fraud was only uncovered after diligent employees noticed that their net “take-home” pay was significantly lower than expected, despite the gross amounts on their payslips remaining high. Following a thorough probe by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team and the NPA’s Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, it was discovered that in August 2024 alone, over R626,000 was unlawfully transferred. Slabbert was granted bail of R5,000 on February 17, 2026, and the case has been postponed to later in the month for further legal proceedings. This case highlights the critical need for “segregation of duties” in payroll departments, as a single point of failure allowed for the systematic siphoning of millions over nearly two years.
Link to Original: PE Express – Isuzu Payroll Fraud