PORT ELIZABETH, March 30 (ANA) – A Port Elizabeth woman charged with fraud, forgery and theft involving over R800,0000 was sentenced to an effective eight years behind bars in the city’s commercial crimes court on Wednesday.
Angeline Joy Smith was employed as an accounts clerk at Christian community radio station, Kingfisher FM.
According to the charge sheet, between October 2012 and January 2015, Smith sent letters to the station’s debtors stating that banking details had changed.
Smith sent these letters under the Operations Manager’s name and further provided her own banking details and another account number which belonged to her young daughter.
According to the charge sheet, after she received payment from debtors, she would sometimes transfer a portion of the monies into Kingfisher FM’s bank account.
Kingfisher FM suffered a total loss of R847,866.64 in respect of debtor’s payments received into her bank accounts and not paid over to the radio station, as well as payments to creditors received into her bank accounts and not paid over to the creditors.
In handing down sentence on Wednesday, Magistrate Louis Claassen said that he took into consideration that she had previously pleaded guilty to the charges against her, however he noted that the offence occurred over a long period of time.
He said the state’s case was very strong in that Smith sent out several letters to debtors.
Claassen said that he had noted that a senior pastor, Neville Goldman of Ebenezer Christian Centre, had forgiven Smith and had also offered assistance with regards to rehabilitation after she was released.
Claassen, however, said that he did not foresee the radio station recovering the money.
In handing down sentence he considered Smith’s two young children, but stated that she should have known that the incident would have been to their detriment.
“You were aware of the children when you committed the offence, you should have known it would of been to the detriment of your children,” he said.
He sentenced the mother of two to 12 years imprisonment, four of which were suspended for a period of five years.
– African News Agency (ANA)
