The Department of Public Works in the Free State suffered a loss of over R3 million. Picture: Steve Buissinne / Pixabay
A Free State businessman has been sentenced in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on money laundering charges.
Nicolas John Eyberg, 55, pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
The matter was investigated by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as Hawks) after a senior official in the Free State Department of Public Works became suspicious in 2015.
The Hawks’ provincial spokesperson, Captain Christopher Singo said the official became suspicious of fraudulent payments made to a company owned by Eyberg, known as New Horizone Beleging.
“The company had a lease agreement with the department for a building in Harrismith. It was discovered that the accused and his company were submitting inflated and fraudulent invoices for the property. These fraudulent payments were for rates, water, and electricity. As a result of the fraudulent activities, the Department of Public Works was prejudiced and suffered a total loss of more than R3 million,” Singo said.
He said the matter was reported to the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team based in Bloemfontein for further investigation.
“It was discovered that the department would make payments to the accused, and after receiving the payments, he would transfer the money to his co-accused,” Singo said.
The court sentenced Eyberg to 10 years imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years on condition he is not convicted of the same offence during the suspension period.
He was also sentenced to a fine of R50,000 which he is expected to pay in monthly instalments of R2,500.
The court took into consideration that Eyberg repaid R3,850,100.09 which was lost by the department due to fraudulent payments.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
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