A 55-year-old accounting clerk from Limpopo has been arrested on charges of fraud and theft amounting to nearly R900,000. The woman, who was employed by a company between April 2018 and November 2019, was apprehended by the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation, known as the Hawks, on Wednesday.
According to Warrant Officer Lethunya Mmuroa, the suspect is accused of defrauding her former employer out of R896,000 during her time in the company. As an accounting clerk, she was responsible for handling purchase orders, invoices, and processing creditor payments. The fraud allegedly occurred when she created a fictitious company, misrepresented it using the company’s logo, and provided her personal bank account details to clients for payments.
The discrepancies in the financial records were uncovered during an internal audit, which revealed inconsistencies between the invoices and the company’s bank statements. It was soon determined that the company had lost more than R896,000 as a result of the fraudulent activity.
After the case was reported to the Musina SAPS, the Hawks took over the investigation, which led to the issuing of a warrant for the clerk’s arrest. She was located and arrested in Musina, and will appear in court for the first time on Friday to face the charges against her. The case highlights the ongoing efforts to combat financial crime and hold individuals accountable for such fraudulent activities in the workplace.
