ACCOUNTANT SENTENCED FOR FRAUD A 39 years-old Chartered Accountant, Antony Ian Marais was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment for fraud in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court yesterday. Mr Marais ran an accounting practice in La Lucia, Durban North, where he received money from clients that was to be either invested or kept in a trust. He used these funds for his personal gain under the pretence that the money would be secure. To date, no money has been returned to the complainants. One particular complainant, an 85 year-old man, had handed over his life savings to the accused as he was told by the accused that the money would be invested. The complainant could not testify in court and state advocate, Clinton Pillay of the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit, applied to hand in his affidavit in terms of Section 3(c) of the Law of Evidence Amendment Act 45 of 1988. The state’s application was successful and the court heard how the elderly complainant could not attend the court proceedings due to his extreme ill health and dementia that he now suffers from. The defence made an application for leave to appeal the accused’s conviction, however this was denied. The National Prosecuting Authority welcomes the sentence. It believes that it will serve as deterrent to like-minded people with intentions to defraud the most vulnerable of our society of their hard earned money and life savings. Issued by: Nathi Mncube NPA Spokesperson 084 814 8364 [email protected]
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 08:30:50 +0000
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