A Nxuba (formerly Cradock) farmer found guilty of fraud amounting to more than R1m has been sentenced to 36 months of correctional supervision.
A Regional Court Magistrate sentenced Wentzel Christoffel Lombard, 56, of Waterval Farm, to 36 months of correctional supervision on Thursday.
Wentzel Christoffel Lombard, 56, has been sentenced to seven years, which was wholly suspended for five years, and has been ordered to compensate the complainant with R100 000.
He must also complete 576 hours of community service at a local shelter.
Lombard duped a Bothaville farmer, Albertus Ebenhaezer Steenkamp, out of more than R1m in 2017 when he led him to believe that he had 200 heavily pregnant cows to sell.
The pair met 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.
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 they were and said they were certified by a Veterinarian from Kwanojoli (formerly Somerset East).
Lombard and Steenkamp agreed on a price of R14,000 per heavily pregnant cow.
After the purchase, the complainant discovered that only half 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 due to the misrepresentation.
