Man in dock again for spending R1,3 million mistakenly paid over
Magistrate hesitantly agrees to extend bail.
Emotional scenes played out on 4 August in the Roodepoort Magistrates’ Court when Brandon Benett appeared again on charges of spending just over R1,3 million that was mistakenly paid into his bank account in 2014.
Benett, then a resident of Maraisburg, moved the money from his account to 14 other accounts after the R1 357 601 was erroneously paid into his account on 12 September 2014 by a director of an investment holdings company, Justin Swanepoel. Swanepoel also happened to be the husband of Fazlin, who had been a friend of Benett’s for more than 30 years. During his appearance, Benett repeatedly referred to her as his ‘best friend’ and that she was ‘like a sister’ to him.
Also Read:Â City acts on fraud and corruption allegations
In his initial affidavit, Swanepoel accused Benett of money-laundering due to the sophistication of his modus operandi. According to Swanepoel, Benett immediately transferred the money to the other accounts. The recipients would then draw the money and allegedly take a cut before giving the rest of the cash to Benett, said Swanepoel. With the money being drawn from various accounts it was nearly impossible to have reversals done.
By the time Swanepoel realised his mistake on 18 September 2014, there was only R55 000 left of the money in Benett’s account. A cat-and-mouse game then ensued. Although Benett admitted that he was not expecting such an amount to be paid into his count and realised it must have been a mistake, Swanepoel unsuccessfully attempted to retrieve the money. In order to honour the payment, which was supposed to have gone to a shareholder, Swanepoel transferred R1 million out of his bond account to the company on 19 September. The company then paid the shareholder. Throughout, Benett had a rather blasé attitude towards the whole matter and allegedly at one time told Fazlin that it was Swanepoel’s fault and not his.
“To this day he believes that I should have been in the dock with him,” said Swanepoel.
Benett was eventually arrested, three weeks after Swanepoel discovered his mistake, but was released on bail. On 4 August, as both sides again recounted their different versions of what happened, Benett kept on insisting that he had tried on various occasions to pay back the money. The only money the Swanepoels did get back was from one of the persons that received some of the money. This man said Benett had told him he’d sold his house and could therefore pay the man R485 000 he owned him. The man proceeded to draw R150 000 and allegedly spent it in one day. “When he realised everything was not above board he paid us back the R335 000 that was left,” Swanepoel told the Record.
Whenever Benett claimed that he tried to pay the money back, Magistrate John Baloyi scolded him, pointing out that the money was not his to be used in the first place and that he knew it did not belong to him.
During Swanepoel’s testimony as to how the ordeal affected his family’s life, he got emotional to the point that Baloyi had to adjourn the hearing so Swanepoel could regain his composure. When Fazlin took to the stand, she did not hold back. Without mercy she told the court that merely paying the money back would not be enough of a deterrent and insisted that Benett did jail time. She pointed out that if Benett could do it to her, a friend of 30 years, then he could do it to others. It also transpired that Benett had previous convictions against him pertaining to fraud. Both Swanepoels said in their testimonies that Benett showed throughout that he had “absolutely no remorse” and that “he was not sorry for what he did, but for the fact that he was caught”. Although Benett’s lawyer claimed during the trial that Benett had handed himself over, Swanepoel disputes this. “Benett only came to the police station after we lured him there under false pretences,” he said. “He was absolutely ruthless, not caring what he did to others”.
Read more:Â Card fraud on the rise in Florida
Before adjourning the hearing, Magistrate Baloyi announced that Benett’s bail was to be revoked, but his attorney asked that this not be done, stating that Benett was not a flight risk. Baloyi hesitantly agreed and said, “We will see on 5 September if this was a good decision,” indicating his own uncertainty over whether Benett would flee or not.
It is expected that Baloyi will give his judgment on 5 September.
Due to the large sums involved, the Minimum Sentence Act applies to this case. The Act specifies a minimum sentence of 15 years.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websitesÂ
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
