PRETORIA – The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court yesterday sentenced a 52-year-old woman who was a financial adviser at Accredinet for stealing R1.2 million.
According to the NPA, the woman can’t be named to protect the identity of her underage child. In January 2018, she met Idalette de Witt’s sister who is now deceased, and was asked to be an executor of her estate.
“In December of 2018, De Witts’s sister passed on and from February 2019 to March 2020, the woman received the funds due to the estate of the deceased.
“However, she transferred the funds from the estate account into her personal account for her pleasure. Among the other things that she did, was to take a vacation and throw a lavish 21st birthday party for her son,” said NPA regional spokesperson, Lumka Mahanjana.
Mahanjana said De Witt, who was the beneficiary of the estate, reported that the woman failed to pay the outstanding credit of the deceased’s vehicle, among other things.
“From over R1.8 million she received from the estate, she paid a few credits to a few beneficiaries and took R1.2 million for herself,” said Mahanjana
The woman pleaded guilty to the charge of theft and was convicted on 15 December 2021.
In her victim impact statement, De Witt said the offence had a financial, health and emotional impact on her, because she had to hire a lawyer again to assist her in finalising her sister’s estate.
She also had to buy a new vehicle because the one she inherited was repossessed after of non-payment.
Prosecutor Ilse Grobler said the woman was in a position of trust and took advantage of the situation to finance her lavish lifestyle.
Grobler asked that the identity of the accused not be revealed to prevent secondary victimisation of her 10-year-old child who will be moved from her home, because her only surviving parent is sent to jail.
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