A lie about 200 heavily pregnant cows, an unsuspecting farmer from Bothaville, and a hefty loan from Vleissentraal.
These were just some components that formed part of a trial against a Nxuba (formerly Cradock) farmer, who was found guilty of fraud amounting to more than R1 million.
Wentzel Christoffel Lombard, 56, of Waterval Farm, was found guilty in the Regional Court in Cradock on Friday.
The court ruled that Lombard duped Albertus Ebenhaezer Steenkamp out of R1,072,500,00.
Steenkamp, who farms in Bothaville, met Lombard at an auction on 20 July 2017.
He attended the auction with his cattle broker, Prieur du Plessis, to buy heavily pregnant cows to make a profit, but the men were unsuccessful on the day.
According to the charge sheet, Lombard approached them and informed them that he had 200 heavily pregnant cows on his farm that he wanted to sell.
He accompanied the men to his farm and showed them heavily pregnant cows.
The men were told that the rest of the cows were somewhere else.
When the complainant specifically asked whether all the cows were heavily pregnant, Lombard assured them that they were and said they were certified by a Veterinarian from Kwanojoli (formerly Somerset East) as heavily pregnant.
Lombard and Steenkamp agreed on a price of R14,000 per heavily pregnant cow.
Steenkamp borrowed R3,003 557,42 from Vleissentraal to buy 191 heavily pregnant cows and the money was paid into Lombard's bank account by way of two separate transactions on the 25th and the 26th of July 2017.
After the purchase, the complainant discovered that only 105 of the said cows were heavily pregnant.
The rest were not pregnant at all.
Magistrate Hannes Claassen determined that Steenkamp suffered a huge financial loss as a result of the misrepresentation.
Judgment will be handed down on 2 December.
