'If my mother didn't die, I would have killed her myself'

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Published Feb 28, 2017

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Rustenburg – One of the two men accused of defrauding a company of more that R25 million in Rustenburg also stole money from his daughter, the North West High Court heard on Tuesday.

"Your mother [Sharon Boyce] deposited R2 000 for her granddaughter in your [bank] account. You gave her only R1 500. You stole from your daughter," prosecutor advocate Jeanette Neveling told Hilton Robert Boyce at the high court sitting in Rustenburg.

"I did not steal from my daughter. There was an arrangement that I must give her R1 500," Boyce replied.

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Grilled by Neveling, Boyce blamed his late mother Sharon Boyce for the fraud that landed him in jail. "The way a feel now , if my mother did not die, I would have killed her myself. I am very angry at what she has done," Boyce told the court.

He told the court that the money his mother transferred into his account were for items his mother wanted him to buy for her. He said there were no records of him paying for items from his FNB account because he used his Nedbank account to pay for the items his mother wanted.

Neveling put it to Boyce that he lived large from the profit of crime, and even posted on his Facebook account that if "your spending exceeds your income do not cut your spending rather find other income". He took overseas trips and used a lot of money at restaurants, which all stopped after the death of his mother.

"I put it to you that all [the lavish living] stopped after your mother died, because the money flow had stopped."

In reply, Boyce said there was a shift of responsibility and he felt it was no longer necessary for people on social media to know where he was and what he was doing.

Boyce, 40, together with his mother's partner Brian Dennis Viljoen are accused of defrauding Eagles Rock Feed Mill of R25 478 378.04 between 2011 and 2014.

They are facing a charge of fraud and money laundering. 

Both Viljoen and Boyce put the blame on Sharon Boyce, who died in September 2014.

The State charged that Sharon Boyce was employed as a creditors clerk at Eagles Rock Feed Mill in Boschfontein near Rustenburg and that with the help of her son Hilton Boyce, she prepared and submitted fictitious invoices and substituted existing suppliers' bank details with that of Viljoen and her son. She paid the money into three bank accounts held by the accused, that she managed. The fraud was discovered in September 2014, after Sharon died of unnatural causes.

The State charges that Boyce knew that his mother was defrauding her employer and his bank accounts were used to move money around.

Advocate Neveling put to him that his mother, Sharon, would transfer money from her employer to Hilton's bank account and in turn he transferred the money to his dormant business account, of which his mother had full control.

Hilton Boyce also allegedly helped his mother to change an invoice from one Eagles Rock client and also produce fraudulent pay slips for her.

Boyce denied knowing anything about activities in his bank accounts. He added that he had never asked Sharon about the money and each time he enquired about bank accounts, Sharon would harshly reprimand him like a child.

He said he was under the impression that the money they used to renovate their house and buy properties was from the insurance that paid out after Sharon's husband died and not proceeds from crime.

The State argued that Viljoen and Boyce had common purpose to defraud Eagles Rock, and should be found guilty as charged.

However, the defence argued that they did not benefit from the fraud and they were not aware that Sharon was defrauding her employer.

The case was postponed to Thursday for judgment.

Judge Ronnie Hendricks ordered that the two be kept in custody until then.

African News Agency

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