Cape Town - A local Bellville businessman has been sentenced to nine years of direct imprisonment by the Bellville Magistrate’s Court for fraud, theft and money laundering.
The businessman Shaun Norman Currin, is the former CEO of Oro Africa one of the biggest jewellery wholesalers and distributors of gold and diamond jewellery to independent retailers and national chain stores.
Currin was convicted on 32 counts of fraud, a count of theft and a count of money laundering, he was sentenced to a total of 49 years imprisonment, but the court ordered some sentences to run concurrently resulting in an effective nine-year direct imprisonment.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the court learnt that Currin started as Oro Africa Group financial manager in August 2010, and he was promoted to chief financial officer in September 2012.
NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said: “In 2015, employees within the company noticed irregularities, committed by another employee, with payments to suppliers and brought that to the attention of Ms Van Huyssteen.”
Ntabazalila said Currin was then asked to explain why he did not notice the irregularities about the employee as she reported to him. He failed to explain and was requested to leave the company premises.
“The company found the accused’s behaviour suspicious and decided to review the company’s financial records and noticed an unauthorised loan account in the accused’s name in the accounting records of Oro Africa,” Ntabazalila said.
The NPA also revealed that, during the trial, State Advocate, Denzyl Combrink, had argued that the loan account was never authorised by any of the directors of the company, thus the accused unlawfully transacted against a personal loan account created in the general ledger of Oro Africa.
“He was contacted and confronted about the suspected misappropriation of funds. He promised to, but never responded to the allegations levelled against him. Subsequently, it was discovered he created multiple fraudulent entries into this unlawful loan account.”
“He also made false narrations on the bank accounts of Oro Africa, petty cash payments were unaccounted for, and personal expenses were incurred on company costs by the accused.
“Due to these fraudulent actions by the accused, the company employed the services and requested that a forensic audit be conducted to determine the losses suffered by Oro Africa.”
“As a result of the accused’s unauthorised and fraudulent transactions depicted infra, the complainant suffered an actual loss of R 7,85m,” Combrink argued.
While Currin pleaded not guilty to all the main and alternative counts, he was convicted on all the main counts.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape, Advocate Nicolette Bell, welcomed the sentence handed down and commended the investigation and prosecution teams for ensuring that those who engage in white-collar crime have their day in court and receive sentences that fit the crimes they committed.