On Thursday 28 September 2023, Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court sentenced Patrick Stapleton (67) to ten years direct imprisonment for 147 counts of fraud. During the period 2010 to 2014 Stapleton and his accomplices were operating two companies known as Dynamic Group CC and GPN Consulting. These companies operated as an investment scheme which was purporting to be involved in the research and development of an off-road mining motor vehicle.
An amount of R11 510 000.00 was deposited by different investors in their business account. Investors were promised lucrative returns over a period of time and that never happened. A case of fraud was then reported at Hillcrest police station and the case docket was allocated to Hawks members from Durban Serious Commercial Crime Investigation for thorough investigation.
Stapleton together with his accomplices were arrested and charged for fraud in 2017. They were released on bail and one of his accomplice Michael Luke Stapleton (42) pleaded guilty on 17 April 2019 and was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment, whereas the other accomplice was acquitted.
Stapleton continued with his court appearances until he was found guilty on 15 June 2022. Yesterday, the court sentenced him to ten years direct imprisonment for 58 counts of which they were taken as one for the purpose of sentencing. On the remaining 89 counts he was sentenced to eight years direct imprisonment and they were also taken as one for the purpose of sentencing. He was further sentenced to two years imprisonment for contravening the Bank Act and another two years imprisonment for contravening the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. His sentences will run concurrently. The company was sentenced to pay a fine of R10 000.00 of which is suspended for three years on condition that it is not convicted of same offence during the period of suspension.
The KwaZulu-Natal Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Provincial Head, Major General (Dr) Lesetja Senona welcomed the sentence and commended the investigating and prosecution team for the good work. “Age does not matter, the DPCI appreciates the fact that justice was served to the victims and the accused will serve a jail term”, he said.
Content retrieved from: https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=48665.
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