Cape Town - A former manager at AfriForum in the Free State has been sentenced in the Bloemfontein Regional Court for fraud and defeating the ends of justice.
Pieter Hendrik Myburg, 36, was employed at AfriForum offices in Bloemfontein as a regional coordinator for the Free State.
According to the provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Captain Christopher Singo, the complainant (AfriForum) was informed by Myburg of the theft of cameras at its premises.
A preliminary investigation was done by the company after information was received that Myburg may be involved in the alleged theft.
“The outcome of the internal investigation revealed that Myburg was involved in fraudulent activities where he submitted various fraudulent quotations to head office for payments for purchasing the cameras which were never bought.
“Some of the cameras that he submitted quotations for were not reported as stolen.
“The payment from the head office would then be used for personal gain,” Singo said.
He said the incident which took place during January 2016 until January 2018, resulted in AfroForum suffering a loss of more than R1 million.
“The matter was reported to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team based in Bloemfontein for further investigation. Myburg was served with summons on January 25, 2022. He appeared in court on several occasions culminating in his recent conviction,” Singo said.
Myburg was subsequently sentenced to eight years imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years and 36 months of correctional supervision.
The court also ordered Myburg to repay AfriForum R720 000 on a monthly instalment of R12 000 over a period of five years.