A 37-year-old former finance manager has been handed a 10-year prison sentence after she was found guilty on 63 counts of fraud.
Prishne Khan, who hid in a freezer to avoid being nabbed by police, squandered more than R3 million on gambling.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said Khan worked as a bookkeeper at the Northern Cricket Union between June 2015 and January 2017, where instead of paying service providers, she altered invoices to reflect relatives' details and misappropriated R350,000. When questioned about the activity, she resigned from her job.
She then worked as a finance manager at another company between March 2017 and September 2017, where she had access to Customer Loyalty Consultant (Pty) Ltd's banking accounts.
"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," said NPA spokesperson, Lumka Mahanjana.
After leaving the company, another employee then gave her a token, which allowed her to siphon more than R3 million into her account between September 2017 and March 2018.
The bank alerted the company about the fraudulent activity and Khan was arrested.
"She appeared in court in May 2018 and pleaded guilty. She claimed that she needed the money and used the monies to buy her husband a car. However, evidence in the pre-sentence report revealed that she had used the stolen funds for gambling," Mahanjana said.
Khan, during sentencing, sought leniency from the court, claiming she was responsible for her children, aged six, 12 and 15. She added that she was also ill.
"Prosecutor advocate Pulane Segalo argued that Khan had committed serious offences, emphasising that she had betrayed the trust of her employers for personal gain. She urged the court to impose a sentence of direct imprisonment to reflect the gravity of her actions. The matter was postponed to March 3 for the judgment," Mahanjana said.
However, Khan then failed to appear and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
"One year later, she was found in her new home in Nigel, hiding in a freezer," Mahanjana stated.
In the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, Khan was sentenced to 10 years of direct imprisonment for 63 counts of fraud that resulted in losses exceeding R3 million.
In addition to this, she received a further four-year sentence for theft amounting to R350,000, with the court ordering that these sentences run concurrently, resulting in an effective sentence of 10 years in prison.
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