A former employee at a veterinary clinic in the Eastern Cape has been sentenced to direct imprisonment in the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court for theft.
Lana Nell, 46, was arrested by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s (known as Hawks) on June 20, 2023.
The provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Yolisa Mgolodela said the crimes perpetrated by Nell were investigated by members of the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team based in Gqeberha.
The charges against her were fraud, alternatively theft.
“During the period between January 2018 and February 2023, Nell as an employee of the Veterinary Clinic in Humansdorp, working in the financial department, embezzled an exorbitant amount of cash from the employer. The theft was suspected when one of the suppliers complained about late payment,” Mgolodela said.
The matter was reported to the Hawks for probing in February 2023.
“The expert investigation skills of the Hawks confirmed that Nell misappropriated cash to the value of more than R4.8 million that was transferred to her personal account over a period of five years, hence her arrest on June 20, 2023,” Mgolodela said.
She was found guilty on March 7.
The court subsequently sentenced Nell to 15 years direct imprisonment, with no option of a fine. The court further ordered her unfit to possess a firearm.
The head of the Hawks in the Eastern Cape, Major General Mboiki Obed Ngwenya welcomed the sentencing.
IOL