A Paarl woman was recently found guilty in the Paarl Regional Court on multiple counts of fraud, forgery, uttering and money laundering at a local transport company, according to Eric Ntabazalila, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Western Cape.
Erika du Plessis was ordered to pay back more than R500 000 to her former employer, HJEK Transport CC, whom she had defrauded.
According to Ntabazalila she worked for the company as an administration clerk between 30 August 2012 and 28 June 2016.
Her responsibilities included doing clerical and administrative work, bookkeeping and the preparation of e-filing payments to The South African Revenue Service (Sars) on behalf of HJEK Transport CC.
During a plea and sentencing agreement Du Plessis confessed how she had manipulated the process in which the company paid VAT to Sars. She said she would replace crucial information of the company in the documents with her personal information and the money would eventually be paid into her account.
She did this without the knowledge of the company owners, who signed off on the payments. In total R547 962 was paid into her account. Sars started to suspect criminal activity after Du Plessis tried to have another R98 432 paid into her account.
During her testimony the mother of three pleaded guilty and said she had remorse for her “illegal conduct”. The court ordered Du Plessis to pay the money back to her former employer within seven days of her sentence.
The 49-year-old was convicted of 45 counts of fraud, 19 of forgery, 19 of uttering and a count of money laundering.
“The court sentenced Du Plessis to seven years imprisonment, which is wholly suspended for five years, on condition that she pays back R547 962 within seven days after the sentence is imposed,” Ntabazalila said.
“Further conditions were that she must not be convicted of fraud, theft, forgery, or uttering committed during the period of suspension. For money laundering, she was sentenced to four years imprisonment wholly suspended for five years, on the condition that she serves 36 months of correctional supervision.
“She must also serve house arrest for the duration of the 36 months of correctional supervision. She must perform four hours of community service per week, and she may not leave the magisterial district of her residence or work without the permission of her Correctional Supervision Officer.”
Du Plessis’ sentence was welcomed by the prosecutor Adv Wimpie Els. He said through this sentencing the NPA sends a stern warning out to all who want to challenge the criminal justice system.
“You will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will face the consequences of your fraudulent conduct,” the prosecutor said.
