Accountant found guilty of stealing R500m from former employer

The Palmridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has found a former employee of pharmaceutical company Medtronic Africa guilty of fraud and theft.

She stole about  R537 million from the company.

According to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), 50-year-old former accountant Hildegard Antoinette Steenkamp, was found guilty on 336 counts of fraud and theft on 21 April.

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The accused was an accountant for Medtronic Africa from 2004 to 2017 and later resigned.

“Steenkamp was given authority to add or remove creditors from the company’s database as part of her job description,” said the Hawks.

“She later added her husband into the company’s database as a creditor between 2004 and 2016, where Steenkamp transferred approximately R4.63 million from the company’s account into her late husband’s estate account, while other company funds were allegedly transferred into her son’s personal account.”

The company launched its own internal investigation and a case was opened and transferred to the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in Germiston for further probing.

“The Hawks’ thorough investigation revealed the company suffered financial loss for services never rendered by Steenkamp’s late husband. The case against her son, who was also arrested, was subsequently withdrawn.”

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Steenkamp handed herself over to authorities in 2018 and was granted bail.

She will be sentenced this week.

Teacher nabbed for R8k theft

In a separate incident, a Mpumalanga teacher is reportedly among four people arrested in connection with a cash-in-transit heist where R8,000 was stolen.

According to Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, the CIT heist took place on Friday morning when a fidelity company was attacked by a group of criminals.

“The armoured vehicle (AV) of Fidelity was traveling from Malelane towards Tonga. Approximately 15 km from the N4 the AV was rammed by a C- class Mercedes Benz. The AV lost control and overturned.

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“The AV was bombed and approximately R8,000 in coins were stolen. This cash was destined for a business in Tonga. The suspects fled in the direction of Tonga,” said Sekgotodi.

The two vehicles which were used during the CIT heist were recovered at a safe house in Schoemansdal.

Information is being followed and further successes are expected.