A 45-year-old woman from the Free State who defrauded her former employer R6 million was sentenced to five years behind bars.
Giselle Taylor Maritz was on Friday convicted and sentenced in the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court for fraud, money laundering and contravention of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.
Maritz was responsible for the manipulation of financial records and the unlawful transfer of trust funds into her account and her mother’s between 2015 and 2019.
According to Captain Christopher Singo, the provincial Hawks spokesperson, the woman who worked at Phatshoane Henney Attorneys was arrested after the company became aware of fraudulent activities at the end of February 2020.
Singo said Maritz defrauded her former employer, Phatshoane Henney Inc Attorney’s, of R6 million over four years. He said a probe by the law firm revealed that Maritz had been responsible for manipulating financial records and the unlawful transfer of trust funds.
The company was prejudiced and suffered a total loss of more than R6 million, said Singo.
He said: “The matter was then reported to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team based in Bloemfontein for further investigation, which culminated in her recent conviction.”
Maritz was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment when she appeared before court on Friday.
Meanwhile, it was previously reported that the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (Hawks) is asking for assistance in finding Shareen Govender who allegedly swindled victims out of an estimated R18 million by pretending to be the director of personal protective equipment (PPE ) company in 2021.
Captain Lloyd Ramovha, the Hawks spokesperson said Govender allegedly paraded as the director of Aurum Line Pty (Ltd)- an existing PPE company which she has no ties with.
Frustrated victims became tired of all the excuses they received from the suspect and it was discovered that she had allegedly falsified documents with the sole intent of stealing from them.
Source: News24, The South African, Times Live , Sowetan Live, image from Times Live: Olivier Le Moal