The Johannesburg high court on Monday dismissed an appeal against a 30-year sentence handed to Renky Daniel Seunane in a multimillion-rand fraud case.
The Johannesburg specialised commercial crimes court (SCCC) sentenced Seunane on seven counts of fraud after he pleaded guilty in 2017.
The SCCC found Seunane acted in common purpose with his former co-accused to defraud several people in an elaborate scheme claiming Eskom was offering contracts to supply diesel generators to Medupi power station, which was being built in Lephalale.
“It was misrepresented that the generators could be sourced through Limpopo Solutions, which was Seunane’s entity. More than R24m was paid into the Limpopo Solutions account by the complainants for the purchase of generators from October 2008 to August 2009,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said.
The scheme could potentially have resulted in about R73m being paid into the account of Limpopo Solutions.
On appeal, Seunane contended the sentence induced a sense of shock and was disproportionate to the crimes he was convicted of. He further contended the court ought to have ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Seunane said the court erred in finding no substantial and compelling circumstances existed for it to deviate from the imposition of the prescribed minimum sentence. These circumstances included that he pleaded guilty, some of the proceeds were recovered, and he was willing to co-operate with the state in dealing with others who benefited from the crime.
The high court said during pre-sentence proceedings by the sentencing court, the state proved Seunane had a similar conviction in Polokwane for fraud and money laundering involving R4.5m committed on January 31 2008.
Seunane pleaded guilty to the charges on August 24 2009 and was sentenced to an effective 10 years' imprisonment by the Polokwane regional court on August 30 2009.
In confirming the decision of the sentencing court, judge Cassim Moosa said the SCCC did not misdirect itself and exercised its discretion properly when sentencing Seunane.
Moosa said he could not agree with Seunane that the sentence imposed was shocking, startling or disturbingly inappropriate and therefore concluded the sentence imposed did not require further scrutiny.
TimesLIVE
Man fails to set aside 30-year sentence after fraud conviction
Image: 123RF/ ALLAN SWART
The Johannesburg high court on Monday dismissed an appeal against a 30-year sentence handed to Renky Daniel Seunane in a multimillion-rand fraud case.
The Johannesburg specialised commercial crimes court (SCCC) sentenced Seunane on seven counts of fraud after he pleaded guilty in 2017.
The SCCC found Seunane acted in common purpose with his former co-accused to defraud several people in an elaborate scheme claiming Eskom was offering contracts to supply diesel generators to Medupi power station, which was being built in Lephalale.
“It was misrepresented that the generators could be sourced through Limpopo Solutions, which was Seunane’s entity. More than R24m was paid into the Limpopo Solutions account by the complainants for the purchase of generators from October 2008 to August 2009,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said.
The scheme could potentially have resulted in about R73m being paid into the account of Limpopo Solutions.
On appeal, Seunane contended the sentence induced a sense of shock and was disproportionate to the crimes he was convicted of. He further contended the court ought to have ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Seunane said the court erred in finding no substantial and compelling circumstances existed for it to deviate from the imposition of the prescribed minimum sentence. These circumstances included that he pleaded guilty, some of the proceeds were recovered, and he was willing to co-operate with the state in dealing with others who benefited from the crime.
The high court said during pre-sentence proceedings by the sentencing court, the state proved Seunane had a similar conviction in Polokwane for fraud and money laundering involving R4.5m committed on January 31 2008.
Seunane pleaded guilty to the charges on August 24 2009 and was sentenced to an effective 10 years' imprisonment by the Polokwane regional court on August 30 2009.
In confirming the decision of the sentencing court, judge Cassim Moosa said the SCCC did not misdirect itself and exercised its discretion properly when sentencing Seunane.
Moosa said he could not agree with Seunane that the sentence imposed was shocking, startling or disturbingly inappropriate and therefore concluded the sentence imposed did not require further scrutiny.
TimesLIVE
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