State capture conviction: Businessman to serve five years in jail over R66m Transnet fraud
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News24
19 minutes ago
- News24
Man and woman, aged 60, injured in panga attack by balaclava-clad men at Franschhoek farm
Two 60-year-old guests were assaulted with pangas by three balaclava-wearing attackers who broke into their accommodation around 01:35 on Saturday morning. Both sustained serious head injuries and were rushed to hospital after fleeing to seek help. Police are appealing for information to help identify the three suspects who stole belongings. Two 60-year-olds were seriously injured and taken to hospital after an attack on a farm near Franschhoek in the Western Cape, on Saturday morning. Western Cape police spokesperson Captain FC Van Wyk said the incident happened around 01:35. 'According to reports, SAPS members received a complaint of a house robbery at a farm near Franschhoek and upon arrival at the scene, they found the front door glass broken where entrance was gained, but no one was at the crime scene,' Van Wyk told News24. He said police had searched the bushes and found keys and a plastic bag containing chips packets. The officers were then informed that the victims had run away to seek help. 'They found two victims, a male and female aged 60, full of blood, but could not interview them properly as the ambulance personnel were busy with them,' said Van Wyk. The man had injuries to his arm and head, while the woman had a head injury. Both were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Van Wyk said the two were guests on the farm and had only booked in on Friday night. 'According to the victims, they were assaulted by three unidentified males with faces covered with balaclavas who attacked them with pangas and who took their belongings,' he added. 'Anyone with information about this incident is kindly requested to contact Crime Stop at 08600 10111 or via the MySAPS App. Information will be treated as highly confidential.'
CNN
44 minutes ago
- CNN
Office cleaner who came face-to-face with the Manhattan gunman details his deadly rampage
Crime Gun violence FacebookTweetLink Sebije Nelovic always felt safe at 345 Park Avenue. For nearly three decades, the Albanian native cleaned the ritzy Manhattan skyscraper that houses several corporate headquarters in one of New York's toniest neighborhoods. That sense of serenity was shattered Monday when a man stormed the Midtown building with an assault rifle and unleashed a hailstorm of bullets, killing three people in the lobby. Then he took an elevator to the 33rd floor – where Nelovic was cleaning. Nelovic loved working in the building and was familiar with all the employees up and down the skyscraper. 'I have worked as a cleaner at 345 Park Avenue for 27 years – since 1998,' she said in a statement provided by her property service workers union, 32BJ SEIU. 'I know everyone in the building.' At 6:28 p.m. Monday, employees were still working on the 33rd floor – including Julia Hyman, a 27-year-old associate at Rudin Management, which owns the skyscraper. The young Cornell graduate often stayed until 8:30 p.m., Nelovic said, and the two women connected during their evenings at the office. On Monday, 'I was collecting garbage like I do every shift,' Nelovic said. 'I was on the 33rd floor when I heard something that sounded like firecrackers.' She peered around the corner to investigate the noise. 'I could see the glass door in front of the reception desk at the office on the 33rd floor. Suddenly, the glass door was shaking. It started falling down – boom.' Then she saw the killer. 'This guy came in the middle of the door, and pointed his gun at me. He started shooting around me,' Nelovic recalled. 'I put my hands up and said, 'I'm a cleaning lady. I'm a cleaning lady.' But I realized – he comes with a machine gun. He's not going to know who I am. He's going to shoot, no matter what.' The 65-year-old started sprinting down a hallway. 'I found a closet, and I went inside and locked the door,' she said. 'I started praying. I heard shouting down the hallway. I sat in there for 5 minutes, or maybe 10, when I heard him walking down the hallway,' Nelovic said. 'He shot the door to the closet, and I was so scared. But I was okay. I heard him walk down the hallway, and then I remembered Julia,' she said. 'I knew she was at her desk, and I thought, God, help her.' After a while, the sounds of gunfire stopped. An ominous silence filled the air. Nelovic had no idea where the killer was. 'Then my supervisor started calling and texting me. I told him I was in a closet, and he told me to stay there,' she said. 'I got scared about making noise, so I turned my phone off. I sat in the closet for 2 hours, maybe 3 hours. I was praying.' Finally, officers came and told Nelovic it was safe to leave the closet. The murderer had turned the gun on himself and was no longer a threat. 'I didn't want them to call my husband or my son – I didn't want to scare them – so one of them drove me home,' Nelovic said. But by the time she got home, her son had already seen the news and was terrified for his mom. 'I told him, thanks to God, I'm okay,' Nelovic said. But her agony was far from over. Nelovic stayed glued to the TV, trying to find answers for an inexplicable horror. 'I had to see what happened, and why,' she said. 'That's how I found out about Julia. She was so nice.' Hyman was the fourth victim killed in the mass shooting. It turns out the killer wasn't targeting either of the women or anyone on the 33rd floor, authorities said. Investigators believe the gunman was headed for the NFL's headquarters, but he took the wrong elevator. A note found in his pocket claimed he was suffering from CTE, a disease linked to head trauma often associated with football players, a source told CNN. But none of that eases Nelovic's anguish, which has only intensified since the massacre. 'Every day, I get more stressed and shaken. A woman is dead on my floor – and it could have been me,' she said. 'I used to get scared to go home on the train at night. My shift ends at midnight. But going to work – I wasn't scared. I was safe there, and I was happy – for 27 years.' CNN's David Williams contributed to this report.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Cleveland city worker being investigated for allegedly funneling $672K to a ‘ghost' employee — how common is this fraud?
Cleveland taxpayers are left scratching their heads after an alleged 14-year-long fraud scheme that cost the city nearly three-quarters of a million dollars was discovered. As WKYC Channel 3 reports, a former office manager at TV20 — the city's public access television channel — is accused of paying $672,050 to a 'ghost' employee who didn't work at the station. Don't miss Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it Cleveland's HR director provided the police with 14 years of invoices that reportedly show a man, who is believed to be the former office manager's nephew, was paid for freelance work from September 2011 to February 2025. However, there are no records of this man working with TV20 as a freelancer. The scandal raises questions about government spending against the backdrop of the city's ballooning budget, which is up to $800 million this fiscal year. What is a ghost employee? Ghost employees are fictitious workers who are listed on a company's payroll but don't actually work with said company. These fictitious employees can result from administrative error — such as failing to remove a former employee from payroll — or deliberate occupational fraud, as may be the case with TV20. This alleged scheme was finally discovered when Cleveland's City Hall hired a new director for TV20. The director was reportedly reviewing financial records when several invoices with forged signatures were found, according to the police report. Sources told WKYC Channel 3 that the office manager abruptly quit her position when police began investigating the case in the spring of 2025, raising serious questions about Cleveland's financial oversight and how such a significant fraud scheme could go undetected for more than a decade. According to the police report, both the former office manager and the man who received the money shared the same address in Cleveland Heights during the time of the fraudulent payments. Neither individual has been named and no formal charges have been filed as the investigation remains ongoing. When questioned about the city's internal controls, city officials declined to provide specifics, citing the ongoing investigation. However, the Ohio State Auditor's Office issued a statement, saying it's 'reviewing the issues that were brought to light during the city's most recent financial audit.' Read more: Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can Ghost employees costs taxpayers millions While this alleged 14-year ghost employee scheme is alarming, this is far from an isolated incident. From June 2018 to May 2023, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration identified 354 potential ghost employees in the U.S. Of those, 93 cases have been adjudicated, with 33 of those leading to successful prosecution that resulted in an average restitution of $1.3 million. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), government and public administration entities are particularly vulnerable to payroll fraud schemes, including ghost employees and fictitious vendors. In a recent report, the ACFE uncovered 296 cases of occupational fraud that took place within government organizations in 2024. The median loss stemming from these cases was $150,000, while the average loss was $2,306,000. 'It's estimated that improper payments and fraud have collectively cost taxpayers trillions of dollars and affect the integrity of many federal programs,' states the U.S. Government Accountability Office on its website. 'They [improper payments and fraud] erode public trust in government, waste taxpayer dollars, and hinder agencies's efforts to execute their missions and program objectives effectively and efficiently.' The ACFE's report estimated that organizations typically lose 5% of revenue to fraud each year, with government agencies facing specific challenges due to complex bureaucratic structures that can obscure financial irregularities. All told, payroll fraud accounts for 8% of all reported fraud cases in the world. If you believe you may have discovered a fraud scheme within government ranks, the Department of Justice provides a hotline for anyone to report suspected fraud involving government funds. What to read next Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now Here are 5 simple ways to grow rich with real estate if you don't want to play landlord. And you can even start with as little as $10 Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Stay in the know. Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise sent straight to your inbox every week for free. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. 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