A former general manager of an auctioneering company which operates nationwide was sentenced to an effective three years behind bars in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday.
Vincent Moss, 51, previously pleaded guilty to 16 counts of fraud involving just over over R1 million. On Thursday, he stood in the dock stone faced as family members wept uncontrollably.
Moss spent 15 years of his life at a Port Elizabeth branch of Aucor, a company in the business of selling, auctioning, valuation and storage of property on behalf of private and corporate clients.
Moss was responsible for running day-to-day operations, liaising with clients, procuring assets for auctions as well as auctioning off property for clients.
During 2014 and 2016, several clients entrusted Moss with property to sell off or store, however Moss sold the properties for his own account and the cash of the sale was deposited into his bank account or a bank account belonging to his son, also called Vincent.
In passing down sentence on Thursday, Magistrate Lionel Lindoor sentenced Moss to six years imprisonment, three of which were suspended for five years.
Lindoor stated that Moss was placed in a position of trust with Aucor in which he betrayed.
“The crimes happened over a period of time which means the accused had time to reflect on his actions,” said Lindoor.
A confiscation order was also received by the court in which Moss was ordered to deposit the stolen money into Aucor’s bank account within 14 days.
Defence attorney Alwyn Griebenow indicated that Moss was in a position to pay back the money by cashing out cash from his pension fund and Sanlam policies.
Moss previously claimed that he was caught between “two fires” as he was using the money to pay for his son’s university tuition.
He said that the cash he stole from clients also fed his wife’s gambling addiction.
Moss claimed that his wife, who has been diagnosed as bipolar, had found out that he had been stealing from clients and threatened to call him out on the crime.
-African News Agency (ANA)
