Court clerk ordered to repay R473 000 after fraud conviction

A clerk of the Atlantis Magistrate’s Court, Western Cape, has forfeited her pension and was ordered to pay R10 000 per month to the department of justice after she was convicted of fraud.

Main cashier for 10 years

Olivia Adonis worked as the main cashier at the court between 6 May 2009 and 15 April 2019, where her responsibilities included depositing and withdrawing cash, viewing the court’s online bank statement to enable her to prepare monthly bank reconciliation statements using the Justice Deposit Account System (JDAS) System, and receiving and accounting for monies received by the state and institutions.

She managed third-party funds, the safekeeping of all cash in transit slips, including bank deposit slips received from the bank, the management of safe money and keys, and the receipt and allocation of floats to the office cashier.

Adonis also had the authority to access and use the department’s online platform with the JDAS System.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the system is a financial and case management system that administers all monies in trust within the magistrate’s courts.

“The JDAS system is used for the receipt and payment of monies on behalf of third parties in respect of bail, maintenance, court payments, fines, and compensation fines,” said NPA regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.

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Misappropriating money under her control

Adonis, however, used her position of trust and misused her employer for her own benefit between April 2018 and April 2019, misappropriating money under her control by completing bank deposit slips but not making cash deposits into the court’s account.

“She manipulated or forged monthly bank reconciliation statements by inflating and misstating the closing bank balances to conceal her misappropriation of monies. She also manipulated or forged the cashbook entries by reducing the balances to be in balance with the incorrect bank account closing balances,” Ntabazalila said.

“She manipulated the financial accounting system of her office by issuing various cheques to creditors but did not forward them and/or destroy them as she had insufficient funds for payment in the court’s account.”

R648 000 not banked

This led to Adonis not banking over R648 000 in the court’s bank account.

According to the NPA, this was uncovered by the department of justice when the incorrect monthly bank statement did not correspond with the court’s actual bank balance.

Following this discovery, Adonis booked off sick and subsequently resigned.

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The very same court where Adonis worked has convicted her on eight counts of fraud and sentenced her to eight years of imprisonment suspended for five years on the condition that she is not convicted of theft, fraud, or any attempt thereof during the period of suspension.

She was also sentenced to 36 months of correctional supervision and placed under house arrest for the full duration of the term of correctional supervision.

Pension withheld, ordered to repay R473 000

The court further ordered that R174 000 held with the Government Employment Pension Fund (GEPF) be transferred into her former employer’s account.

Adonis was also ordered to repay the remaining R473 410 at a rate of R10 000 per month.

All the payments are to be made to the clerk of the Malmesbury Magistrates Court.