DURBAN – Two brothers were sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and 12 years’ imprisonment respectively in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court after they were charged in connection with a multi-million fraud case.
The pair, Peter, 57 and Louis Henderson, 54, were convicted of fraud amounting to about R4.6 million, theft of about R1.6m, reckless and negligent trading and contravention of Section 11 of the Banks Act of 1990.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, Peter was also convicted for failing to comply with a SA Reserve Bank (SARB) instruction.
NPA regional spokesperson Natasha Kara said the offences were committed between 2002 and 2003.
She said the brothers operated a Durban-based entity called Forex International which accepted deposits from the public, while not being registered to do so.
“They told investors that their investments were guaranteed.
“However, they lost the monies offshore and used about R1.6m for their own benefit,” she said, adding that they were arrested by the police after an investigation by the SARB.
Senior state advocate Ashika Haripersad led the evidence of 18 investors, together with the evidence of a forensic accounting expert and a representative from the reserve bank, said Kara.
According to Kara, on contravention of the Banks Act, Peter was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment while Louis was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment.
For the fraud, Peter was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and Louis 12 years’ imprisonment.
“They were each sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for theft and two years’ imprisonment for reckless and negligent trading.
“Peter was sentenced to a further five years’ imprisonment for failing to comply with a reserve bank instruction,” she added.
The NPA said all counts were taken as one for the purpose of sentencing, thus resulting in the effective sentences of 15 years for Peter and 12 years for Louis.
THE MERCURY