A Port Elizabeth man has been jailed for 15 years on a charge of theft involving an amount of R7.5 million.
Giel Mans, who was arrested in Nelspruit last week after failing to appear in court in December, pleaded guilty to several charges against him in the PE Commercial Crimes Court on Monday.
Several other charges were withdrawn.
A state prosecutor said three years of the 15 year theft conviction were suspended for five years.
Mans was also sentenced to five years for defeating the ends of justice by pretending to have been kidnapped.
The sentences will run concurrently.
Mans ran a multi-million rand investment scheme into the ground before faking his own kidnapping to avoid having to refund investors.
