The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has sentenced former finance and administration manager of AgriCAD, Lizette Marielle Steyn to 12 years’ direct imprisonment for 85 counts of theft.
Steyn was employed by AgriCAD, a company that manufactures agricultural implements, from February 2019. During her tenure, she was tasked with loading creditors for payment on the business bank account, along with her day-to-day bookkeeping and accounting duties.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), she had full access to the AgriCAD ABSA bank accounts and used this opportunity to swindle more than R6 million by changing the details of one of the accounts to those of her six personal Capitec accounts.
It is also reported that between October 27, 2020 and May 9, 2023, 85 payments totalling over R16m were made into her personal bank accounts. With the funds, Steyn installed solar panels in her house and bought luxury items, a caravan and a vehicle for her son-in-law. She also paid for her daughter’s wedding and her family’s weekend getaways and holidays.
NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said Steyn was arrested on July 18. 2023 and had been in custody since then.
“In court, she pleaded guilty and said she stole the money to pay debts because her husband had lost his job. She asked the court to consider her ill-health and the fact that she is a first-offender when passing sentence.
“However, the prosecutor, advocate Rachelle van der Walt argued that as much as Steyn was a first-time offender, her offences were committed over three years. Furthermore, she was in a position of trust, but betrayed that trust and was not hesitant to hide her dishonest conduct. She opened Capitec accounts in her name which she used to receive the stolen money for luxury items and an extravagant lifestyle. Therefore, Van der Walt asked the court to consider long-term imprisonment when imposing the sentence,” said Mahanjana in a statement:
She said Steyn pleaded guilty because she had no other option. “Her change of heart and acknowledgement of her criminal conduct originated from being caught, and not from her true inner feelings of regret. Therefore, she had no choice but to concede defeat.
“Steyn committed the offence when she was at an age where it was expected of her to be able to distinguish between right from wrong, but she failed dismally. Furthermore, courts are increasingly faced with the situation where offenders with medical challenges commit serious offences. As such, illness cannot be used as a licence to commit crime,” Mahanjana said.
The Star