Fraudster found hiding in freezer sentenced to 10 years by Pretoria court

A former finance manager (37), who hid inside a freezer to evade arrest, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud and theft that resulted in losses exceeding R3m.

The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court yesterday sentenced Prishne Khan to 10 years of direct imprisonment for 63 counts of fraud.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana says Khan received a further four years’ imprisonment for theft amounting to R350 000, with the court ordering that the sentences run concurrently.

Khan had been on the run for a year, after absconding from her trial in 2023 when she was found guilty.

Mahanjana says Khan was employed as a bookkeeper at Northern Cricket Union from June 2015 to January 18, 2017, with responsibilities that included processing payments for various service providers.

“Instead of executing her duties honestly, she altered banking details on multiple invoices, replacing them with those of her husband and cousin and misappropriating R350 000 over six weeks from May to June 2016. When questioned about her actions, Khan resigned from her position.”

Mahanjana says following her resignation, Khan became the finance manager at Customer Loyalty Consultants (Pty) Ltd from March 9, 2017, to September 30, 2017.

She says this role provided Khan with access to the company’s bank account and banking systems.

During her employment, Khan again manipulated customer banking details to funnel payments into accounts controlled by her husband and cousin.

“Despite her ability to process payments, she could not execute them immediately due to a token needed, which was the responsibility of another employee. After leaving the company in September 2017, another employee provided her with the token, allowing her to release payments totalling more than R3m to herself from September 2017 until March 2018.”

Mahanjana says the fraudulent activities came to light when the bank alerted the company about suspicious transactions.

Subsequent investigations by the police led to Khan’s first court appearance on May 31, 2018.

“In court, Khan pleaded guilty to the charges and attributed her criminal conduct to financial difficulties, claiming she needed the money for essentials, including purchasing a motor vehicle for her husband. However, evidence in the pre-sentence report revealed that she had used the stolen funds for gambling.”

During sentencing proceedings, Mahanjana says Khan sought leniency based on her responsibilities towards her three minor children aged 6, 12, and 15, and cited ill health as factors in her favour.

In response, prosecutor advocate Pulane Segalo argued that Khan had committed serious offences, emphasising that she had betrayed the trust of her employers for personal gain.

Segalo urged the court to impose a sentence of direct imprisonment to reflect the gravity of her actions.

“The matter was postponed to March 3, 2023, for judgment on the sentence; however, Khan absconded, leading to a warrant for her arrest,” says Mahanjana.

She says over a year later, on August 30, Khan was located hiding in a freezer at her new home in Nigel, leading to her arrest and court appearance.

When delivering the sentence, the magistrate agreed with the state, stating that Khan’s actions were motivated by greed rather than necessity.

He noted that Khan did not demonstrate genuine remorse.

Mahanjana adds that Khan pleaded guilty only due to the realisation of the consequences of her actions.

“Consequently, the court determined that the only suitable sentence in these circumstances was imprisonment.”

The NPA welcomes the ruling and reaffirms its commitment to holding offenders accountable for commercial crimes.

“This case serves as a reminder that the NPA is dedicated to prosecuting fraud and maintaining integrity within financial dealings in South Africa.”