A senior accounts secretary has been sentenced to seven years in prison after defrauding a Stellenbosch law firm of more than R13 million over two years.
The Bellville Commercial Crimes Court sentenced Alwena Smith, 53, to an effective seven years direct imprisonment after she had entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the state. Smith was convicted of 171 counts of fraud, 171 counts of interference with data and four counts of money laundering.
The court sentenced her to 12 years’ direct imprisonment for the fraud charges, suspended for five years on condition she will not be convicted of fraud, theft or corruption. She received 12 months’ direct imprisonment for data interference, wholly suspended for five years, and 12 years for money laundering, also wholly suspended for five years. The sentences were to run concurrently and she was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Systematic fraud over two years
NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the law firm Smith had worked for specialised in notaries, conveyancing, estate law and third-party claims, from March 2006 until she was dismissed in May 2018. “As senior accounts secretary she managed day-to-day income and expenditure, receipted monies and handled regular banking duties.”
He said her role included making electronic payments using her assigned internet profile on the firm’s trust bank account. An investigation revealed Smith had used both her own and a colleague’s internet profile to create fictitious profiles, making 171 transfers totalling R13 267 096,59 into her private bank account between January 2016 and 2 April 2018.
“To conceal her fraudulent activities Smith created false beneficiaries on the banking system,” said Ntabazalila. “She deliberately made spelling mistakes when creating false beneficiaries of existing clients so the law firm’s banking system would not show that the beneficiaries already existed.”
Before beginning her fraudulent activities Smith registered a company, Garda TeK (Pty) Ltd, of which she was the sole director. She paid some of the stolen money into her company’s bank accounts and also transferred funds to bank accounts belonging to her husband and daughter, falsely telling them she had received an inheritance.
Smith later confessed her family was unaware of her fraudulent actions and subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing. As part of concealing her crimes she paid R6,5 million back into the law firm’s trust account.
Ntabazalila said the National Prosecuting Authority had welcomed the sentence.
