Pretoria – The Middelburg Regional Court has sentenced 59-year-old Linda Ebersohn to 15 years imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to 867 counts of theft in a plea agreement.
Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, the Mpumalanga regional spokesperson for the Hawks, said the court suspended five years of Ebersohn’s sentence, “for five years on the condition that she is not convicted of an offence of which dishonesty is an element”.
“The sentence followed the incident which happened between 1998 and 2017 whereby the accused, who was a debtors and creditors clerk at the company where she was working, created fictitious and or used existing creditors’ particulars on the system and made payment to her personal account,” Sekgotodi said.
Ebersohn further distributed the money to her husband and two children’s accounts.
“The matter was reported to the Hawks' Middelburg-based serious commercial crime investigation (unit) for further investigation. The investigation was completed, and the accused was linked to the crime,” said Sekgotodi.
She was arrested on 27 November 2018 and appeared in court the following day.
Her family members were also arrested and charged.
“During the sentencing on Friday, the charges against the other three were withdrawn when Ebersohn pleaded guilty,” said Sekgotodi.
Meanwhile, the Hawks' provincial head in Mpumalanga, Major General Zodwa Mokoena, lauded the investigating officer and the prosecuting authority for securing the sentence.
Mokoena said the jail term “will serve as a lesson to other thieves that their wrongful deeds will catch up with them”.
Meanwhile, in May, a 52-year-old mother and her 33-year-old son appeared before the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on fraud and theft charges.
According to Hawks spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu, between 2016 and 2020, the mother, Petronella Stander, allegedly swindled approximately R1 million in numerous transactions meant for suppliers into her bank account from her former employer.
Mulamu said the money was diverted from Stander’s employer, OPTO Africa (Pty) Ltd, a Randburg-based industrial automation software and weighbridge installation company’s business account.
“In April last year, the investigation team arrested and charged Stander with fraud and theft. The court later released her on R10 000 bail,” said Mulamu.
IOL