Ten family members have appeared before the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court, in Mpumalanga, facing charges of fraud, theft and money laundering.
Their case has been placed back on the court roll by the Nelspruit Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks.
The 10 accused people have been identified by the Hawks as Carol Ann Avent, 51, Ian John Avent, 57, Lucy Andrea du Preez 54, Maria Antoinette Le Roux, 53, Kerry Ann Avent, 36, Jaco Meinties, 48, Pieter Albertus Meintjies, 40, Annechelay Charlene Meintjies, 28, Dina Petro du Preez, 33, and Maritz Vernon du Preez, 27.
“It is alleged that during 2016, the main accused, Carol Ann Avent was employed as a financial administrator at the company called Trans Collection CC in Nelspruit. Her duties were to secure and make payments to the provident funds, as well as making payments to the company’s creditors,” said Hawks Mpumalanga provincial spokesperson, Warrant Officer Thandi Tshabalala.
For the purpose of her work, the Hawks said Carol Ann Avent was issued with a unique password for her to be able to process payments for the company’s creditors.
“The accused (Carol Ann Avent) switched from making payments to the creditors and started making huge transfers from the company’s Nedbank business account straight to her family members’ personal bank accounts.”
Through the criminal acts, the company lost an actual amount of R11.5 million.
Investigation was conducted and finalised in 2019, and the accused people, Carol Ann Avent and her family members were arrested.
Tshabalala said the matter was transferred to the Specialised Commercial Crime Court and set for trial, but the cases were provisionally withdrawn due to unfinished administration.
“The cases were re-allocated to the Specialised Commercial Crime Court. Summons were issued and the cases were placed back on the court roll on Wednesday, February 21, 2024,” said Tshabalala.
The 10 accused people have appeared before the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court and the matter was postponed to April 19, 2024 for tracing of possible outstanding suspects and for the matter to be transferred to Specialised Commercial Crime Court.
IOL