Scammer Sentenced to 8 Years Behind Bars for Defrauding Farmers in Free State
- A man who defrauded farmers of more than R18 million in maize was sentenced to eight years imprisonment
- Phillippus Prinsloo Pretorius and his company Eco Grain CC failed to pay the victims after they sold him maize
- The Free State High Court heard that Pretorius committed fraud between October 2019 and January 2020
BLOEMFONTEIN - A man who defrauded farmers of more than R18 million was sentenced to eight years behind bars in the Free State High Court.
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Phillippus Prinsloo Pretorius and his company Eco Grain CC failed to pay the victims after they sold him maize.
According to a police report, once the maize was loaded Pretorius would sell it to bulk material storage facilities.
He told the farmers that he would compensate them after he sold the maize but failed to do so. The court heard that Pretorius committed fraud between October 2019 and January 2020 and took more than 4000 tons of maize.
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Hawks spokesperson Captain Christopher Singo told News24 that the non-payment made the victims when they discovered that some of the maize was delivered under Pretorius.
The matter was reported to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation based in Bloemfontein for investigation. The Hawks investigated the case and arrested Pretorius in February 2021.
Man who committed 23 years to living a lie defrauded Old Mutual of R1.7m by faking his own death
Briefly News also reported that a Gauteng man who allegedly defrauded Old Mutual Insurance insurance out of R1.7 million by faking his own death appeared in the Knysna Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 9 October.
Robbie Smith and his wife Alice were living in Benoni when they hatched the scheme and pretended Smith died in a car accident. According to Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha, the couple registered an insurance claim which Old Mutual paid out.
After receiving the payment, the couple quickly fled Gauteng for KwaZulu-Natal and eventually laid down roots in Knysna, where they hid for over 20 years. Smith assumed the identity of Chris Boshoff and opened a vehicle repair shop, Knysna auto repairs.
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Source: Briefly News
