The Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court has postponed the case against five bookkeepers suspected of allegedly defrauding a Bloemfontein-based optometrist to 21 June. The matter was adjourned to the new date on Friday (26/05).
The suspects are Maria Fatima Botes (45), George Botes (45), Ann Cathereen Smit (69), Susanna Aletta Liebenberg (42), and Chantelle Matthews (43). They face charges of theft and fraud as well as money laundering. They first appeared on 17 May. The suspects are out on warning to reappear in court on the date given. The case against them emanates from allegations of defrauding Mellins i-Style Optometrists of about R2. 7 million.
WO Fikiswa Matoti, Free State spokesperson of the Hawks, said the complainant in the matter is a Bloemfontein-based accounting and management consulting firm rendering services to various companies. “Mellins i-Style Optometrists happened to be one of the prominent clients,” said Matoti.
She said the five were contracted by the consulting firm to perform required duties on the books of the optometrists at the time the alleged fraud was committed. They allegedly siphoned money from the business by transferring funds from the optometrists in question.
Matoti said the alleged fraud of illegally transferring funds from the business’ accounts was discovered in 2019. “It is alleged that during February 2019, Absa’s fraud department notified the complainant as they found suspicious transactions, funds transferred from Mellins i-Style Optometrists’ business accounts. Internal investigations were conducted, and it was discovered that the suspects unlawfully transferred funds from the business’ account from the period November 2015 until February 2019,” said Matoti. She said the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in Bloemfontein launched an investigation in March after the complainant opened a case.
Matoti said because of the alleged fraud, the optometrists’ entity was prejudiced and suffered a loss of R2 695 012.
