A 43-year-old woman was convicted of fraud in the East London Magistrates Court after embezzling over R720 000.
A 43-year-old woman who worked in an East London mall was this week convicted of fraud in the East London Magistrates Court after embezzling over R720 000 through the creation of fraudulent gift card vouchers.
Eastern Cape Hawks spokesperson Yolisa Mgolodela said the conviction on Tuesday, follows an investigation into fraudulent activities committed by the woman, who served as Assistant Manager at Hemingway’s Mall in East London between 2018 and 2020.
“During the period between 2018 and 2020, (the woman)... within the office of the Centre Management made numerous fraudulent ‘gift card vouchers’ for her personal gain.
“The matter was formally lodged with the East London based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation of the Hawks for a thorough probe which revealed that (she) prejudiced the centre cash to the value of more than R720 000. (She) was arrested on 14 February, 2023 where she appeared shortly before East London Magistrates court where she was released on a warning,“ Mgolodela said.
Following her bail release, she made several court appearances before her conviction on Tuesday.
According to Mgolodela the matter was adjourned until October 14 for a probation officer's report.
In a separate incident, the Makhanda High court granted the Asset Forfeiture Investigation (AFI) of the Priority Crime Specialised Investigation (PCSI) in Gqeberha the forfeiture order for a VW Polo vehicle worth R72 000 which was “used as instrumentality during a business robbery”, Mgolodela said.
“It is alleged that on Monday, 6 July 2022 at about 2:30am at the post office in Commercial street at Alicedale, a business robbery occurred where a silver VW Polo allegedly used during the robbery was seized.
“One suspect, was arrested during the incident and thereafter made a number of appearances at Alicedale Magistrates Court. On 28 September 2022, the case was provisionally withdrawn pending the investigations with the intention to arrest more suspects.”
She said the preservation order prohibiting the use of the vehicle was issued followed by the granting of the forfeiture order on Monday.
“The vehicle will be sold on auction and the proceeds will be deposited into the Criminal Assets Recovery Account (CARA) for State use,” Mgolodela added.
Cape Times
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