Secretary gets 15 years in jail for R11.5m Road Accident Fund fiddle

An Eastern Cape secretary will spend the next 15 years behind bars for swindling the Road Accident Fund (RAF) of more than R11m.

Magaretha Voogt, 45, was sentenced in the regional court in East London on Thursday. Hawks spokesperson Capt Yolisa Mgolodela said Voogt worked for an auditing firm when she committed the crime in 2017.

“It is reported that Voogt, a personal assistant of the auditing firm Moore Stephens, orchestrated fraudulent claims from the investment company PSG in the year 2017,” said Mgolodela.

“The funds were put in the investment company in respect of 11 RAF payouts for accident victims.

“The Hawks investigation revealed that Voogt submitted fraudulent claims purporting that the claims were from the rightful beneficiaries.

“The investment company PSG deposited approximately R11.5m claims directly into her personal bank account following the approval by the Makhanda high court.”

The auditing firm reported the matter to the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation team in East London when it received complaints from the beneficiaries. Voogt was arrested in 2019. She was out on bail of R10,000 before being sentenced.

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