The case against a Cinderella woman who allegedly defrauded her former employer, a medical equipment company, of over R460-million, was postponed to May 31 in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court yesterday (February 28).
Accompanied by her husband and other companions, the 43-year-old Hildegard Steenkamp appeared briefly in the dock before her case was postponed for further investigation.
Steenkamp is facing charges of fraud‚ theft and money-laundering. She made her first appearance in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on December 15, and was granted bail of R250 000.
This came after Steenkamp was arrested by the Hawks Commercial Crime Unit at her home in Cilliers Street, Cinderella on December 13.
During her brief appearance on Wednesday, Steenkamp’s defence team requested that the investigating officer be given the power to grant her permission to leave the province to see a psychiatrist.
Presiding magistrate Jeremy van Vuuren declined the request, saying the court could not grant such powers, but that Steenkamp could make a formal application to the court if she wanted to see a doctor outside of the province.
The conditions of Steenkamp’s bail are that she:
• Must not interfere with state witnesses.
• Must submit both her passport and identity documents to the investigating officer.
• Must not leave town without the knowledge of the investigating officer.
• Must report at Boksburg Police Station three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays).
• Must not relocate from her Cinderella residence without informing the investigating officer.
Hawks spokesperson Capt Ndivhuwo Mulamu said Steenkamp, who worked as an accountant at multinational medical equipment supplier Medtronic‚ based in Midrand, allegedly duplicated payments by transferring money directly into her late husband’s bank account.
It was reported that years after she resigned‚ the company’s new accountant picked up irregularities and the information was then handed to the Hawks.
Following a three-month investigation, the Hawks descended on Steenkamp’s house with search-and-seizure warrants and attached the woman’s 11 luxury vehicles, motorcycles and seven immovable properties as well as furniture, appliances and jewellery worth millions of rands, according to Mulamu.
Steenkamp evades camera crews
Dressed in peach-coloured trousers and a floral sleeveless top, and seeming nervous, Steenkamp left the dock and stepped out of the courtroom into the corridor escorted by her husband and a companion.
News camera crews rushed to the main exit of the court and stationed themselves there to ensure their quarry did not escape.
Steenkamp, however, decided to engage them in a game of hide-and-seek at the court premises.
The sight of photojournalists and videographers waiting outside the court sent Steenkamp and her husband scurrying back into the building to evade being photographed and filmed.
Standing at a safe distance from the cameras, they scratched their heads as they anxiously plotted a way to evade the cameras.
They eventually made a special arrangement to exit the building through the underground parking gate in Commissioner Street.
The camera crews, however, received a tip-off before their target could exit the building, and raced there just in time to meet them.
The drama ended when a white Golf with tinted windows, driven by Steenkamp’s husband, hurriedly exited the building with Steenkamp in a back seat hiding from the cameras.
Journalists at the scene approached the security officers at the exit point and demanded to know why the accused was given special treatment. One security officer said the parking is reserved for staff members only, and that the person who allowed Steenkamp to use it had acted against procedure. -@MthuphaFanie
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