Durban — A man accused of fraud and money laundering has been sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
Last Wednesday, the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sentenced Sivalingam Naidoo, 51, for fraud and money laundering.
KwaZulu-Natal Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Sibu Ncane said between July 2015 and October 2016, Naidoo was employed as a property administrator by the owner of Phoenix Cash and Carry, who also owns and operates several other business properties in the greater Durban area. Naidoo’s duties were to handle all administration concerning rentals for the corporation. The owner thought his property rentals were fine until he found irregularities in the bank accounts.
Ncane said Naidoo had transferred R1 150 000 into his account. The transaction alerted the employer, who then began to question his tenants about payments of rent and they informed him that Naidoo had told them he would be collecting cash as rent. The owner later discovered Naidoo had defrauded his company a total amount of R5 873 125.50.
A fraud case was reported at Phoenix police station and the case docket was allocated to the Hawks members from Durban Serious Corruption Investigation, Ncane said. Naidoo was arrested in 2017 and appeared in court several times until he was convicted and sentenced.
“He was found guilty on 344 counts of fraud and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment. He was further found guilty on two counts of money laundering and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment,” Ncane said.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, the Richards Bay Regional Court sentenced Martinus Lourence Johannes Klemp, 34, to 40 years’ imprisonment for fraud and money laundering.
KZN police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said Klemp was a logistics clerk working closely with service providers. The company was alerted by their bank about possible fraudulent activities. After a thorough investigation, it was discovered that instead of paying suppliers, Klemp fraudulently processed suppliers’ invoices for payments but transferred the funds into his family members’ personal bank accounts. The company lost R3.8 million due to Klemp’s fraudulent activities between September 2014 and October 2022.
Ngcobo said the matter was reported at Paulpietersburg police station in November 2022.
Five suspects aged 62, 55, 35 and 34 years were arrested and appeared before court on February 8, 2022.
“Klemp pleaded guilty, while the other four pleaded not guilty to all the charges. He made several court appearances and was sentenced to a total of 40 years by the Richards Bay Regional Court.
“The four suspects are due to appear before Vryheid Magistrate’s Court on July 25,” Ngcobo said.
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