The Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court on Monday sentenced Prishne Khan, a former finance manager, to 10 years’ imprisonment for fraud that resulted in losses exceeding R3m.
In addition, Khan, 37, was sentenced to a further four-year jail term for theft amounting to R350,000. The court ordered the four-year sentence to run concurrently with the 10-year jail term.
Khan was arrested hiding in a freezer in her new home in Nigel on Friday after she had absconded from her trial last year when she was found guilty of the charges.
Khan was employed as a bookkeeper at the Northern Cricket Union from June 2015 to January 2017, with responsibilities that included processing payments for various service providers.
“Instead of executing her duties honestly, she altered banking details on multiple invoices, replacing them with those of her husband and cousin and misappropriating R350,000 over six weeks from May to June 2016. When questioned about her actions, Khan resigned from her position,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said in a statement.
Mahanjana said after her resignation, Khan worked as finance manager at Customer Loyalty Consultant (Pty) Ltd from March 9 2017 until September 30 2017, and her role provided her with access to the company’s bank account and banking systems.
“During her employment, Khan again manipulated customer banking details to funnel payments into accounts controlled by her husband and cousin. Despite her ability to process payments, she could not execute them immediately due to a token needed, which was the responsibility of another employee.”
After she left the company in September 2017, another employee provided her with the token, allowing her to release payments totalling more than R3m to herself from September 2017 until March 2018.
“The fraudulent activities came to light when the bank alerted the company about suspicious transactions. Subsequent investigations by the police led to Khan's first court appearance on May 31 2018.”
Khan pleaded guilty to the charges and attributed her criminal conduct to financial difficulties, claiming she needed the money for essentials, including purchasing a motor vehicle for her husband.
“However, evidence in the pre-sentence report revealed that she had used the stolen funds for gambling.”
During sentencing proceedings, Khan sought leniency based on her responsibilities towards her three minor children, aged six, 12, and 15, and cited ill health as factors in her favour.
However, prosecutor advocate Pulane Segalo argued that Khan had committed serious offences and said she had betrayed the trust of her employers for personal gain. She urged the court to impose a sentence of direct imprisonment to reflect the gravity of her actions.
The matter was postponed to March 3 2023 for the judgment on the sentence. However, Khan absconded, leading to a warrant for her arrest.
More than a year later, on Friday, she was located in Nigel, leading to her arrest and court appearance on Monday.
“The NPA welcomes the ruling and reaffirms its commitment to holding offenders accountable for commercial crimes,” Mahanjana said.
TimesLIVE
Former finance manager sentenced to 10 years for fraud and theft
Image: NPA Communications
The Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court on Monday sentenced Prishne Khan, a former finance manager, to 10 years’ imprisonment for fraud that resulted in losses exceeding R3m.
In addition, Khan, 37, was sentenced to a further four-year jail term for theft amounting to R350,000. The court ordered the four-year sentence to run concurrently with the 10-year jail term.
Khan was arrested hiding in a freezer in her new home in Nigel on Friday after she had absconded from her trial last year when she was found guilty of the charges.
Khan was employed as a bookkeeper at the Northern Cricket Union from June 2015 to January 2017, with responsibilities that included processing payments for various service providers.
“Instead of executing her duties honestly, she altered banking details on multiple invoices, replacing them with those of her husband and cousin and misappropriating R350,000 over six weeks from May to June 2016. When questioned about her actions, Khan resigned from her position,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said in a statement.
Mahanjana said after her resignation, Khan worked as finance manager at Customer Loyalty Consultant (Pty) Ltd from March 9 2017 until September 30 2017, and her role provided her with access to the company’s bank account and banking systems.
“During her employment, Khan again manipulated customer banking details to funnel payments into accounts controlled by her husband and cousin. Despite her ability to process payments, she could not execute them immediately due to a token needed, which was the responsibility of another employee.”
After she left the company in September 2017, another employee provided her with the token, allowing her to release payments totalling more than R3m to herself from September 2017 until March 2018.
“The fraudulent activities came to light when the bank alerted the company about suspicious transactions. Subsequent investigations by the police led to Khan's first court appearance on May 31 2018.”
Khan pleaded guilty to the charges and attributed her criminal conduct to financial difficulties, claiming she needed the money for essentials, including purchasing a motor vehicle for her husband.
“However, evidence in the pre-sentence report revealed that she had used the stolen funds for gambling.”
During sentencing proceedings, Khan sought leniency based on her responsibilities towards her three minor children, aged six, 12, and 15, and cited ill health as factors in her favour.
However, prosecutor advocate Pulane Segalo argued that Khan had committed serious offences and said she had betrayed the trust of her employers for personal gain. She urged the court to impose a sentence of direct imprisonment to reflect the gravity of her actions.
The matter was postponed to March 3 2023 for the judgment on the sentence. However, Khan absconded, leading to a warrant for her arrest.
More than a year later, on Friday, she was located in Nigel, leading to her arrest and court appearance on Monday.
“The NPA welcomes the ruling and reaffirms its commitment to holding offenders accountable for commercial crimes,” Mahanjana said.
TimesLIVE
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