Bloemfontein warehouse manager convicted for stealing nearly R900k from his employer

A Bloemfontein man who stole almost R872,000 from his employer was on Friday sentenced to a 12-year prison term for fraud and theft.

However the Bloemfontein Regional Court suspended the sentence for five years on condition that Joubert Isak Jansen, 53, repays ABE Construction R583,000.

The Hawks revealed this on Sunday as it reported on its successes in two cases of theft and fraud.

Jansen, 53, from Heidedal, worked for ABE Construction Chemicals (Pty) Ltd as a warehouse manager between 2011 and 2013. 

The Hawks said during 2012 and 2013, Jansen presented 20 invoices from a bogus company, Joe's Services, and stole almost R872,000 from his employer. 

Investigations by the Hawks’ Bloemfontein Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team revealed that Joe's Services was not registered and had no capacity to service ABE Construction.

Investigations also revealed that Joe's Services bank account belonged to employees of ABE Construction. 

The employees alleged they were forced by Jansen to open accounts and withdraw the deposits made therein to him.  The amounts were paid to him without any personal gain on their part. 

Furthermore, investigations discovered that Jansen rented a vehicle for his own personal gain on the account of ABE Construction for a total amount of R59,000.

In another case, the Nelspruit Regional Court sentenced a bookkeeper to a prison term of three years, or a fine of R70,000 after she embezzled R144,000 from her employer.

In 2016, Louisa Lubbie, 50, worked as a bookkeeper for FFA Mechanical Services, in Nelspruit.

Lubbie was responsible for receiving and banking the company’s monies.

However, Lubbie fraudulently made the payments to her personal bank account, and in the process manipulated the company’s books to hide the unlawful activities. 

The case was also reported to the Nelspruit Serious Commercial Investigation team and after thorough investigation, Lubbie was found guilty of fraud and theft.