Christo De Jager, 60, was convicted by the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 595 counts of fraud on Monday.
De Jager defrauded Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA) in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, where he worked as a fleet administrator.
Between 2014 and 2021, De Jager worked in cahoots with Autotrust, a service provider contracted by VWSA to render auto body repair services. According to a police statement, Autotrust reportedly submitted fraudulent invoices to VWSA for services not rendered and the accused assisted the service provider in sourcing the falsified invoices for payments.
An internal audit took place, and administrative malfunction was discovered. The matter was then assigned to the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation (SCCI).
After a thorough investigation, the Hawks discovered that 572 invalid invoices were submitted, scamming VWSA out of more than R12 million. De Jager received payments for personal gain regularly from Autotrust as kickbacks. The accused was apprehended in March last year and he appeared for bail and was later released on warning.
After several court appearances, De Jager was convicted, and will be sentenced on May 22.
Acting provincial head of Hawks Brigadier Vennessa Shantelle Hastings expressed her gratitude for the thorough investigation by the Hawks. “The perpetrator gets what he deserves,” said Hastings.
In another matter, a 60-year-old woman was convicted of fraud, theft, forgery and uttering by the Bellville Specialised Crimes Court in Cape Town on Monday. During her crime spree between 2012 and 2017, Virginia Dawn Wilscot posed as a registered agent to buy houses and vehicles on auction.
Wilscot reportedly presented her victims with fake and altered documents of houses and vehicles that were supposed to be auctioned.
Hawks provincial spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Siyabulela Vukubi said the accused fleeced 22 victims out of R3m, where they made payments to the bank for services not rendered.
The accused was found guilty on 20 counts of fraud, one count of theft and eight counts of forgery and uttering. Wilscot, who has been in custody since 2017, will be sentenced on April 12.
The Star