A Cape Town bookkeeper was sentenced to eight years in prison in the Parow Regional Court for fraud this week.

The sentencing of Louise Johanna Baynes (58) on Wednesday 30 September was welcomed by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks), its spokesperson, Lt Col Siyabulela Vukubi, said.

He said Baynes was found guilty on 228 counts of fraud resulting in losses amounting to R3 662 523,91.

The court heard that Baynes had been employed at Province Lighting, which is trading as Rubicon Lighting, which specialised in the manufacture and distribution of commercial lighting products. Her responsibilities included capturing supplier invoices on the payment system, loading beneficiary information and approving payments before they were authorised by management.

Fraudulent payments

Over a six-year period between January 2017 and February 2023, Vukubi said, the accused submitted fictitious and/or altered invoices purportedly issued by legitimate suppliers and authorised the associated payments.

He said investigations conducted by the Hawks‘ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team revealed she had manipulated the invoices by inserting or substituting banking details to reflect bank accounts belonging to her or under her control. Baynes falsely represented these accounts as belonging to legitimate suppliers entitled to receive payment, Vukubi said.

“Acting on these misrepresentations, Rubicon Lighting, through its representative, effected payments into the fraudulent accounts. These payments were neither due nor payable to the accused, resulting in substantial financial prejudice to the company.

“The investigation established that the unlawful payments were made solely because of the accused’s fraudulent conduct and deliberate misrepresentations.”

Sentencing

Two of the eight years’ to which Baynes was sentenced to were suspended for five years on condition she is not convicted of fraud or theft in this period.

The court further declared her unfit to possess a firearm, Vukubi said.

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