The Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court sentenced a 46-year-old man to eight years imprisonment for 103 counts of fraud, 102 corruption, and one count of money laundering.
Rakesh Maharaj was sentenced by the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Tuesday.
According to the KwaZulu-Natal Hawks spokesperson, Simphiwe Mhlongo, between January 2015 and September 2017, Maharaj was employed by Consulens Health Care Solution PTY as a Logistics Manager.
“It was discovered that he colluded with his accomplices and manipulated stock levels on the company system. They allegedly created a requirement for certain products in order to purchase more stock,” said Mhlongo.
Mhlongo explained that Maharaj was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for fraud, of which two years is suspended for three years. This is in addition to another 10 years imprisonment for corruption, of which two years was also suspended for three years, and five years imprisonment for money laundering which is wholly suspended for three years.
“His sentence will run concurrently which means that he will effectively serve eight years direct imprisonment,”
Mhlongo added that his accomplices, Oleena Dauchand, 51, and Debi George, 61, will continue with the trial on October 30, 2024.
In another matter, a Nigerian man, Gabriel Okori, has been remanded in custody when he appeared before the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court facing charges of fraud and theft.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks said Okori, 39, appeared before the Pretoria court on Monday, after he was arrested earlier this month in Cape Town.
Okori was arrested by the Hawks, assisted by City of Cape Town’s law enforcement and a private security company.
The Hawks in Gauteng said the case against Okori was postponed to October 28, when he is expected to formally apply for bail.
Gauteng spokesperson for the Hawks, Warrant Officer Thatohatsi Mavimbela said Okori allegedly scammed a woman who he met online, and she believed she was involved with a white man named Mark Hermanus.
“The complainant in the matter alleges that she met what she thought was a white male on Facebook by the name of Mark Hermanus, the two exchanged cellphone numbers and began chatting on instant messaging (WhatsApp),” said Mavimbela.
“While the pair were getting to know each other, ‘Mark Hermanus’ informed the complainant that his son was sick and asked the complainant to lend him money for his son’s medical bills.”
The Hawks said the woman kept giving “Mark Hermanus” money, and the bill escalated to over R3 million.
The man promise he would pay her back, once he had paid all his son’s medical bills. However, he never paid back the money.
IOL News