Durban — A Bluff woman facing more than 140 counts of fraud amounting to R18.9 million appeared in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Monday.
Cindy Saunders, 37, her accomplice Terrence Gonasekharan Raju, and his companies South Continent Logistics cc and Troy Trans are facing charges of fraud, corruption, forgery, theft and money laundering.
The pair allegedly schemed together from October 2017 until September 2019, fictitiously sourcing and selling containers and channelling the money into their own bank accounts.
Saunders defrauded millions from her previous employer Renocorp cc trading as Nicholson Shipping, where she was an export controller for 12 years.
In 2018, Saunders tendered her resignation after she confessed to her then managing director that she had been defrauding Nicholson Shipping with the help or assistance of Raju and the entities.
She also said she had a gambling problem and owed several loan sharks money.
To raise funds Saunders continued to allegedly defraud her employer and SK Boyz, a company she approached with a business proposal to sell containers.
The charge sheet states that Saunders generated invoices through Nelson Shipping, issued in the name of an existing client, Valley Irrigation, for the sale of shipping containers.
“These invoices were falsified. No shipping containers had been sold or delivered to Valley Irrigation. She then colluded with Raju who represented the entities to further her fraudulent activities and justify the issue of the invoices to Valley.
“Both entities jointly and separately through the agency of Raju issued several fictitious invoices to Nicholson Shipping for shipping containers that had allegedly been purchased by and delivered to Nicholson Shipping from the entities.
“Nicholson Shipping had neither purchased containers from the entities nor had they delivered any containers to Valley Irrigation. Upon receipt of the invoices, Nicholson Shipping made payments to the entities into their respective bank accounts,” read the charge sheet.
It further stated that Saunders would submit copies of statements and in turn pay Raju “commission” for providing the fictitious invoices for payment to Nicholson Shipping. She then made a written disclosure to the executives.
The matter was reported to the Hawks who conducted a forensic investigation and report which stated that in respect of Valley Irrigation, nine fictitious invoices valued at R18 987 083 were produced by Saunders and purported to have been presented to Valley Irrigation for payment. SK Boyz suffered actual prejudice amounting to R5 428 000 after accepting Saunders’s plea to fund her project based on a 50% profit-sharing agreement.
In February 2021, Saunders pleaded guilty to 45 counts of fraud and was released on bail of R50 000. During pre-sentencing proceedings on Monday, Sauders said she had turned to “God” to fight her gambling addiction.
“I am now a Sunday school teacher. I have changed my ways … ”
Daily News