Ex-Discovery worker faces charges over severance package
A former Discovery Life employee who tried to force the company he admitted to defrauding of more than R11m to pay him a voluntary service package in 2020, has not only failed in his court bid, but now faces a criminal theft charge.
Aaron Mabaso turned to the Labour Court (Johannesburg) in October 2020 to ask that a voluntary severance package (VSP) agreement he signed earlier that year be made an order of the court.
Discovery Life opposed the application.
TimesLIVE reports that the matter stems from a retrenchment process Discovery Life initiated. Mabaso was among those affected. He worked at the firm from 2009, first as an administrator and then in 2014 as a team leader.
‘On 30 March 2020, Mabaso was given a VSP agreement, but he did not sign it at the time. The agreement provided for payments to be made to him and it contained a full and final settlement clause. On 20 April 2020, Mabaso signed the agreement. This is the same day he admitted he committed a significant and elaborate fraud against Discovery Life and he had stolen £500 000 (R11.9m) from Discovery Life,’ noted Judge Connie Prinsloo.
When payment was not made in accordance with the VSP agreement, Mabaso approached the court.
Discovery Life argued Mabaso's application was ‘fundamentally defective and ill-conceived’ as the VSP package was not a settlement agreement in terms of the Labour Relations Act.
This was because its ‘validity and enforceability’ were disputed.
Prinsloo said Discovery Life’s response to Mabaso’s application was that he had failed to disclose material facts when the agreement was entered into, which facts if they were known at the time would have caused Discovery Life not to enter into the agreement.
Discovery Life has since confirmed it opened two criminal cases against Mabaso, in the UK and SA.
‘Discovery has robust processes in place to identify, monitor and mitigate internal fraud. Owing to this, the fraud committed by Mabaso, which he admitted under oath to, was detected. VitalityLife, where the crime was committed, is Discovery’s Life insurance business in the UK. In this respect, Discovery has opened criminal cases in the UK and SA,’ Discovery Life told TimesLIVE.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
