Pretoria – The Thabazimbi Magistrate’s Court in Limpopo has released Bessie Pretorious on R7 000 bail when she appeared briefly on Thursday, facing accusations of stealing R1.5 million from her employer.
Provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Lieutenant-Colonel Matimba Maluleke said Pretorius was arrested by the Limpopo Hawks Serious Commercial Crime investigation members for allegedly embezzling R1.5m from the Thabazimbi Christian School which was her employer.
“It is alleged that between 2017 and 2018, the suspect was employed as a financial clerk at Thabazimbi Christian School and her main responsibility was to manage the school finances,” Maluleke said.
“Instead of truthfully managing the school finances, the suspect (Pretorius) allegedly stole some of the school money and transferred it into her personal bank account on numerous occasions.”
Maluleke said at some point, management of the school became suspicious and an audit was conducted.
“The audit report revealed the fraudulent activities, as a result, a case of fraud was opened and transferred to Hawks Serious Commercial Crime (unit) based in Polokwane for further investigation,” Maluleke said .
“After a thorough and meticulous investigation by the Polokwane-based Hawks members, a warrant of arrest was authorised against the accused and it was successfully executed.
“The accused was granted R7 000 bail, and her case was postponed to 18 July, 2023,” Maluleke said.
Provincial head of the Hawks in Limpopo, Major General Gopz Govender has commended the “meritorious effort” of the officers who worked tirelessly around the clock, until Pretorius was arrested.
IOL