East London PA Gets 15 Years in Prison for Stealing R11.5m from Employer
- An East London-based personal assistant has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after being charged with both money laundering and theft
- Margaretha Voogt worked at the company she swindled the money from for five years, working with invoices and service providers
- Voogt stole a massive R11.5 million from her employer and distributed it among her family members
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Margaretha Voogt, a resident of East London, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing a massive R11.5 million from her employer. Voogt worked as a personal assistant at Moore Stephens Auditing and PSG Konsult.
Voogt worked there for over five years, dealing with invoices and service providers' electronic payments. The 47-year-old's sentencing comes seven months after she was convicted on 22 counts of money laundering and 30 counts of theft.
Before the decision was made about her sentencing, Judge Twanett Olivier revealed that Voogt had manipulated invoices and submitted them. She allegedly changed account numbers and replaced them.
Source: Facebook
Voogt's family members were acquitted of all charges after hiding some of the looted funds
According to News24, Voogt split the money up with her family. She previously stated that her family members were used in the theft to transfer the large amounts to their accounts. Voogt allegedly stated that they did not know that the money had been stolen and she took the blame.
Due to her confession, the National Prosecuting Authority dropped all charges against her husband and other family members.
Eminetra reported that Voogt's daughter, step-daughter, husband, mother and sister-in-law were recipients of the laundered money.
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Man lands himself in jail after attempting to smuggle gold
Briefly News previously reported that a man was arrested at the OR Tambo International Airport after being found with an estimated R11 million worth of gold in his luggage. The 33-year-old appeared in the Kempton Park Regional Court on Monday, 10 May.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) Serious Organised Crime Investigation team made the arrest. The suspect had reportedly been travelling from Zimbabwe.
Police said that the man had been asked to scan his luggage at the South African Revenue Service's customs section in the international arrivals area.
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Source: Briefly News
