A manager entrusted with distributing millions of rand in claims to vulnerable clients at a leading insurance company now finds herself facing a prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to fraud amounting to R1.6m in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes court.
Megan Nolan and her life partner were arrested in December 2023 for fraud, just two months after Nolan was dismissed by Assupol Life for her crimes.
She worked as a supervisor in the claims administration department between 2015 and 2022 and for the first six years of her employment, was diligent in overseeing the processing of outstanding claims to sick or bereaved clients.
That all changed on June 30 2021 when a daring Nolan, 36, funnelled R15,000 meant for a beneficiary to a personal account, under the guise that she would later reimburse this client.
Over the next three months, Nolan channelled nearly R30,000 in a similar fashion.
The payments initially ranged between R2,000 and R15,000 but increased to about R111,000 the following year. Just four days before her dismissal in October 2022, Nolan misappropriated R103,160.
Nolan's crime spree came to an end December 2023 when she was arrested alongside Dianne Carreira and charged on 39 fraud counts. The charges against Carreira were later dropped after Nolan pleaded guilty in court in April this year.
In her admission, Nolan confirmed that between June 30 2021 and August 12 2022 she “unintentionally and unlawfully defrauded Assupol Life ... in that I had on 39 separate occasions manipulated [the] banking details of various clients belonging to Assupol to reflect either my own banking details or that of my partner”.
“I admit that on the dates mentioned ... I unlawfully, falsely and with intent to defraud, misrepresent to Assupol Life and/or its employees that I effected payments into the bank accounts of Assupol clients. I [also] admit that I was not authorised to effect payment on the dates mentioned ... in the amount mentioned [R1.6m] into the [personal] accounts mentioned.
“Further, I admit to unlawfully effecting and authorising various payments in the total sum of R1,636,258 either directly or indirectly to my bank account and/or partner's under the pretext that I would reimburse and/or pay Assupol clients. I admit that I did not disclose the nature and/or source of these funds to Carreira at the time,” she said.
Nolan admitted to acting out of “sheer desperation” and in an attempt to “provide for my partner and three minor children”.
The couple reside in Lyttelton Manor with three children, two of whom are Carreira's biological children and one is Nolan’s.
Despite her acknowledgment that her actions were wrong and punishable by law, Nolan pleaded with the court to “consider a lesser sentence in the form of a fine [or] alternatively, a wholly suspended sentence”.
This is because, she pleaded, she has no previous convictions, warrants of arrest or pending matters against her.
“Therefore, this is the first time I find myself on the wrong end of the law,” she said.
Correctional services compiled a suitability report that assessed whether Nolan qualified to be placed under correctional supervision.
Nolan's sentencing was initially set down for Friday but was postponed to July 17 for the pre-sentencing report to be finalised.
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