A 33-year-old Northern Cape woman, Simangele Sangweni, has been sentenced to 10 years’ direct imprisonment by the Kimberley Specialised Commercial Court for orchestrating an elaborate banking scam that defrauded two municipalities of nearly R1 million.
Her company, Multi Quipment Pty Ltd, was also fined R100,000, and wholly suspended.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Tebogo Thebe said Sangweni was convicted on 17 counts of fraud, 25 counts of money laundering, as well as charges of forgery and uttering.
Sentencing proceedings were concluded on April 10.
According to the Thebe, the scam took place between August and September 2021. Sangweni submitted fraudulent change-of-banking-details letters and invoices to Phokwane Municipality, pretending to be from Vaalharts Water, a legitimate service provider.
The deception led the municipality to deposit R455,510 into her business account.
A month later, she pulled a similar scam on Frances Baart District Municipality.
By impersonating Sedibeng Water, another municipal service provider, Sangweni tricked officials into changing their banking details and transferring R469,918 to her company’s account.
“Accused number 1, Multi Quipment Pty Ltd, was sentenced to pay a fine of R100,000 wholly suspended,” saidThebe.
“Accused number 2, Simangele Sangweni, was sentenced to 10 years’ direct imprisonment.”
Provincial Head of the Hawks in the Northern Cape, Major General Steven Mabuela, praised the investigating team, saying the conviction “sends the right message.”
“Criminality in any form must be confronted,” he said.
IOL News