No money was recovered from the convicted fraudster Herman Daniel Badenhorst (36) and people who financially benefited from the R4.9 million stolen from deceased estates and trust funds at Matsepe Inc Attorneys.
The finding of the investigation by the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit in Bloemfontein, presented as evidence in court, revealed Badenhorst transferred the money to himself, family, and friends.
Lt Col. Zweli Mohobeleli, provincial spokesperson of the Hawks, has confirmed the money or proceeds of the fraud could not be traced. An investigation found that the accused manipulated financial records to make transfers between 2008 and 2018.
“In November 2019, when he was working for the second law firm, it was discovered that he had distributed over R4.9 million out of the deceased estates and trust funds,” said Mohobeleli.
Badenhorst was an admin clerk at the law firm during the period in question. He was dismissed by the firm upon the discovery of his fraudulent activities.
The Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court sentenced Badenhorst on 8 September after finding him guilty of fraud, money laundering, and contravention of the Electronic Communication and Transactions Act. He was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment in total, and seven years suspended for five years. Mohobeleli said Badenhorst will serve eight years’ direct imprisonment.
The elite crime-fighting wing was unable to make any recovery in a similar matter involving Giselle Taylor Maritz, who defrauded her former employer Phatshoane Henney Inc. Attorneys in Bloemfontein. She was sentenced to five years’ direct imprisonment for defrauding the firm of R6 million last year. Probing revealed Maritz unlawfully transferred trust funds to her own personal bank account, and then to her mother’s bank account. The transactions were done between 2015 and 2019, the investigation revealed.
