A 53-year-old man has been sentenced to 8-years direct imprisonment for the tampering of electricity meters which cost the Buffalo City Municipality an estimated 180 million rand in lost revenue.
Captain Anelisa Ngcakani of the Hawks says 53-year-old Gerrit Crowther was sentenced in the East London Regional Court on Tuesday on 11 counts of fraud.
He was arrested at Strand in the Western Cape in June of 2018 and has remained in custody ever since.
Captain Ngcakani says that in 2016 and 2017, Crowther impersonated an employee of Eskom and Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality and claimed to render a service of installing a device which reduces electricity consumption.
He marketed and sold his services to businesses in the Buffalo City area for an amount ranging from R3-000- R60-000.
However, in reality, Crowther did not install a device but rather tampered with electricity meters, which ultimately cost the Municipality around R180 million in lost revenue.
Buffalo City reported the matter to the Hawks as it noticed that the electricity bills of various businesses had dropped.
The Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit commenced with its investigation in November 2016.
On the 23rd of October last year, Crowther was found guilty of the 11 counts of Fraud by the East London Regional court.
