Woman released on R10,000 bail after she allegedly defrauded her employer of R2.6 million

Sarika Paul was granted R10,000 bail after she appeared in court on charges of fraud. File Picture

Sarika Paul was granted R10,000 bail after she appeared in court on charges of fraud. File Picture

Published Oct 13, 2023

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The Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court has granted 39-year-old, Sarika Paul R10,000 bail after she appeared before the court on charges of fraud.

The Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court postponed the matter to November 28, for disclosure, according Colonel Katlego Mogale, spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks.

Paul appeared in court after she handed herself over to authorities on Thursday, following allegations of fraud.

“It was reported that Paul was employed as a buyer at PharmaQ (PTY) Ltd. It is alleged that she bought goods from suppliers and charged them four times the original price in order to benefit from that amount as some of the suppliers were owned by her relatives,” said Mogale.

At times, the Hawks said, Paul would place orders with her family members and charge more for the business than the normal price of the goods.

“She used her personal Absa and FNB bank accounts to transfer monies from the service providers into hers. PharmaQ (PTY) Ltd suffered an actual loss of R2,623,246,” said Mogale.

Sarika Paul was granted R10,000 bail after she appeared in court on charges of fraud. File Picture

In July, IOL reported that the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court released 43-year-old Yolanda Enslin on R2,000 bail after she was arrested for allegedly defrauding her employer of R1.6 million.

The Pretoria North-based woman has been charged with fraud.

“It is alleged that during her employment as a bookkeeper at Hatmed Medical Centre in Hatfield from March to October 2022, Enslin was responsible for sending authorised payments to distributors,” Gauteng regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, Lumka Mahanjana said at the time.

“In her capacity as a bookkeeper, the accused defrauded the medical centre by changing the distributors’ account details to hers and transferring the money to herself,” she said.

When the medical centre noticed shortages in medication stock, it was discovered that the facility had been defrauded.

IOL