Two fraudsters found guilty of fleecing R2.4 million from a trucking company through fictitious insurance claims were sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment each for fraud.
The sentences were wholly suspended for five years by the Alex Magistrates’ Court on condition they repaid the company.
Fortune Sithole, the mastermind who was an insurance assessor for the company, and Sipho Zondo, owner of a dormant panel beating company, were found guilty by Magistrate Renier Boshoff for the crime committed through an elaborate scheme in which Sithole submitted to the company, 18 claims for payments for bogus truck repairs worth R2.4 million between 2014 and 2015. The money was paid into Zondo’s company’s account.
They were arrested in 2015 but delayed the case hearing by chopping and changing legal representatives. Sithole is said to have used the money to develop a business empire including a bottle store, taxis and a garage and seemingly gave Zondo only R50 000.
The fraud was detected by the company’s finance agents who got suspicious of the claims and asked the company which denied any damage to the trucks or authorising any repairs. It was discovered that Sithole forged company documents and directed the payments into Zondo’s company account which he kept.
The two admitted guilt and were granted the suspended sentence on condition they repaid the company in monthly instalments of R50 000 from this November.
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