Maria Fatima Botes (45); Ann Catherina Smit (69); Susanna Aletta Liebenberg (42); Chantelle Matthews (43) appeared before the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 06 October 2023 where they were sentenced for theft and money laundering. The complainant in the matter is an accounting and management consulting firm based in Bloemfontein that appoints various bookkeepers to perform the required accounting jobs and Mellins i-Style Optometrists Bloemfontein happens to be one of their prominent clients.
It is alleged that during February 2019, ABSA fraud department notified the complainant as they identified suspicious transactions with regard to transfers of funds from Mellins i-Style Optometrists’ business accounts. Internal investigations were conducted and it was discovered that the accused, who were bookkeepers contracted by the complainant, unlawfully transferred funds from the business account from the period November 2015 until February 2019. As a result Mellins i-Style Optometrists Bloemfontein was prejudiced and suffered a total loss of R2 695 012. The case was then referred to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation in Bloemfontein for further investigation which culminated to the conviction of the accused.
The court sentenced Botes to eight years’ direct imprisonment for theft and four years direct imprisonment for money laundering, both charges were suspended for five years. She was ordered to repay a total amount of R854 490.81 to the complainant within a period of five years’. Smit was sentenced to three years’ direct imprisonment for theft and two years’ direct imprisonment for money laundering wholly suspended for five years’. She was ordered to repay R93 971.12 to the complainant within a period of five years’. Liebenberg was sentenced to eight years direct imprisonment for theft and four years’ direct imprisonment for money laundering wholly suspended for five years’. She was ordered to repay the complainant R681 036.61. Matthews was sentenced to eight years’ direct imprisonment for theft and four years direct imprisonment for money laundering wholly suspended for five years. She was ordered to repay the complainant an amount of R1065 514.37 within a period of five years’.
The Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Free State Major General Mokgadi Bokaba has applauded the work of the investigating officer and the prosecutor especially in addressing the crime of money laundering.
Content retrieved from: https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=48815.
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