Four bookkeepers who stole over R2 million from an optometrist in Bloemfontein were ordered to pay back the money.
The Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (known as the Hawks) said Maria Fatima Botes, 45, Ann Catherina Smit, 69, Susanna Aletta Liebenberg, 42 Chantelle Matthews, 43, in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 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,” Hawks spokesperson in the Free State, Captain Christopher Singo said.
He said in 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,” Singo said.
“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 in the conviction of the accused.
Botes was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for theft and four years imprisonment for money laundering, both sentences 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 imprisonment for theft and two years imprisonment for money laundering wholly suspended for five years. She was ordered to repay R93,971.12 within a period of five years.
Liebenberg was sentenced to eight years for theft and four years for money laundering, wholly suspended for five years.
She was ordered to repay R681,036.61. Matthews was sentenced to eight years for theft and four years for money laundering wholly suspended for five years.
She was ordered to repay an amount of R1,065,514.37 within a period of five years.
-IOL
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