A Free State woman has been convicted and sentenced in the Bethlehem Regional Court on charges of fraud, contravention of Section 4 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca): money laundering.
Nthabiseng Adeline Motaung, 47, pleaded guilty to the charges brought against her.
A preliminary audit conducted by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development uncovered that Motaung and her co-accused Marotholi Yvonne Modiehi, 40, defrauded the department by transferring third-party funds into their personal bank accounts.
The provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as Hawks), Captain Christopher Singo said the matter was reported to the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Crime Investigation team based in Bloemfontein for further investigation.
Singo said Motaung and Modeihi were arrested on July 22, 2019.
“They were both employed at Bethlehem Court as administration clerks during the time of the incident. The funds included maintenance money, admission of guilt fines, bail, court fines and fines collected on behalf of other government departments,” Singo said.
“The incident took place from May 2018 until February 2019. As a result of the fraudulent activities, the Department of Justice was prejudiced and suffered a total loss R135,200.”
The court sentenced Motaung to eight years imprisonment for fraud, wholly suspended for five years on condition she is not found guilty of the same offence during the period of suspension.
Motaung was further ordered to pay back the money to the department in the amount of R135,200 in monthly instalments of R4,000 from November 7 until the amount is fully paid.
She was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for money laundering, wholly suspended for five years on condition she is not found guilty of the same offence during the period of suspension.
Modiehi is expected to appear in the Bethlehem Commercial Crimes Court on Monday where her trial is expected to proceed.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL