Cape Town – Gerrit Erasmus, who tried to fleece Standard Bank through a multimillion-rand bond application, has received a suspended sentence.
The 62-year-old Erasmus had applied for a home loan worth R19 million from the bank in June 2019 using false credentials, including an identity document, the Hawks said.
The Cape Town Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team was alerted and he was immediately arrested. He was subsequently convicted of fraud by the Cape Town Regional Court
’’Following a plea agreement, the court has sentenced Erasmus to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for five years on condition that he is not found guilty of fraud and theft during the period of the suspension.
’’Additionally, he was given three years’ correctional supervision,“ the Hawks said yesterday.
Last year, the SAPS investigated staff at First National Bank (FNB) and a Richards Bay law firm for alleged fraud committed during the registering of a home loan.
FNB had approved a R3.2 million home loan for a property in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, based on alleged forged signatures, illegally obtained identity documents and bank statements of people who claim to have known nothing about the bond application.
The investigation centred on how, in 2005, FNB had approved the bond to a company allegedly using the names, forged signatures, illegally obtained ID books and bank statements of individuals who were not directors of the company, police said at the time.
IOL