Staff Reporter
AN ELDERLY couple, Amanda Jantjies (58) and Barnard Jantjies (60), have been convicted by High Court Judge Eileen Rakow after pleading guilty to charges levelled against them in relation to a N$9.9 million fraud case.
The alleged fraud is said to have been committed by Amanda during her time as a bookkeeper under the employ of a bus transport service company, Ekonolux. It is alleged that she was solely responsible for disbursing funds on behalf of the company and transacting on the close corporation’s bank account to settle business debts and pay business expenses.
Amanda is facing 873 counts of fraud, 876 charges of theft and 871 counts of money laundering. However, the charges of theft were set aside as they duplicate the allegations made in the fraud charges.
The State alleges that during the period from January 2014 to November 2018, Amanda paid money from the bank account of Ekonolux to her own bank account and an account of Bareli Building Services. A total of N$3.4 million was paid from the Ekonolux bank account to an account of Bareli Building Services cc.
It is further alleged that some of the payments were also made from the account of Ekonolux to settle her and her husband’s personal expenses.
It is also alleged that Amanda made fraudulent payments totalling N$9.98 million from the Ekonolux bank account in total.
According to the State, the alleged fraudulent payments were discovered after the owner of Ekonolux instructed its general manager in December 2018 to investigate suspicious transactions reflected on the close corporation’s bank account records.
After pleading guilty to all charges, Amanda stated: “I remorsefully admit that by means of the said false pretences and misrepresentations, I authorised the transfer of money from Ekonolux cc’s bank account into my personal bank account, for my own personal benefit and for the benefit of my co-accused husband and accused three, Bareli Building Services cc.”
Picture for illustrative purposes only. Photo: Contributed
