The Bethlehem Regional Court has imposed a hefty sentence upon one of two former employees of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development charged with fraud. In addition, she was ordered to repay the full amount the department was defrauded. The pair were arrested on 22 July 2019.
The court sentenced the culprit, Nthabiseng Adeline Motaung (47), on 27 October to eight years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years. This is a result of probing by the Bloemfontein-based Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team.
Capt. Christopher Singo, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, said the trial is ongoing against the second accused, Marotholi Yvonne Modiehi (40). He said the investigation discovered that the department was prejudiced and suffered a total loss of R135 200.
Singo said the two women were employed as administrative clerks at the Bethlehem Court during the period of the incident. This was between May 2018 and February 2019, he said.
“Motaung pleaded guilty and was sentenced for fraud and contravention of Section 4 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, money laundering. On a count of money laundering, she was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment wholly suspended for five years, and eight years’ imprisonment for fraud wholly suspended for five years on condition too. The conditions are that she is not found guilty of similar offences.
“The funds were third party funds that included maintenance money, admission of guilt fines, bail, court fines and fines collected on behalf of other government departments. Probing discovered that they defrauded the department by transferring the funds into their own personal bank accounts,” said Singo.
He said the court ordered Motaung to pay back the department the full amount in monthly instalments of R4 000, commencing from 7 November 2023.
