Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
A 59-old Mpumalanga woman will spend 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to 867 counts of theft amounting to more than R12 million.
The fraudster, Linda Ebersohn, stole money for 29 years while working as a clerk for a private company in Middelburg.
She was sentenced when she appeared in the Middelburg Regional Court last Friday after making a plea deal that saved her family members from going to prison.
Five years of her 15-year prison sentence were suspended on condition she is not convicted of any crime involving dishonesty within a period of five years.
“The sentence followed incidents which happened between 1998 and 2017 whereby the accused, who was a debtors and creditors clerk at the company where she was working for, created fictitious and/or used existing creditors particulars on the system, and made payment to her personal account. She further distributed the money to her husband and two children’s accounts,” said Mpumalanga spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Lucy Dineo Sekgotodi.
Sekgotodi said the Middelburg-based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team of the Hawks worked on the case tirelessly, until they managed to link Ebersohn to the crime.
“Ebersohn was arrested on November 27, 2018 and appeared in court on the following day. Her family members were also arrested and charged. During the sentencing on Friday, the charges against the other three were withdrawn when Ebersohn pleaded guilty.
“The Hawks’ provincial head, Major General Zodwa Mokoena cherished the investigating officer and the prosecuting authority for securing such a sentence which will serve as a lesson to other thieves that their wrongful deeds will catch up with them,” said Sekgotodi.