The money pleaded guilty to a charge of money laundering.
Image: File
A 45-year-old woman has been convicted on a money laundering charge in the Oudtshoorn Magistrate’s Court.
Cathleen Hendricks, 45, pleaded guilty to the charge of money laundering.
According to the Western Cape spokesperson for the Hawks, Warrant Officer Zinzi Hani, this matter stems from a larger investigation into drug trafficking and money laundering activities that emanated from a drug seizure from a taxi that arrived in Oudtshoorn in April 2018.
“It was reported that on April 6, 2018, an intelligence-led operation consisting of members of the Serious Organised Crime Investigation team based in George and K9 Oudtshoorn acted on information received about drug activities. The information received was about an individual who was dealing in drugs, who sent an amount of R60,000 via a taxi driver to Gqeberha to buy drugs,” Hani said.
Upon the return of the taxi to Oudtshoorn, SAPS members stopped and searched the taxi and found R57,490 in cash belonging to the drug dealer, together with 200 Mandrax tablets.
The taxi driver was arrested. The drugs and the money were seized.
“Upon further investigation, it was established that the drug dealer instructed Cathleen Hendricks to go to the police station to submit a statement where she declared that the R57,490 belonged to her, but the money was not handed back to her. The drug dealer passed on in 2022,” Hani said.
Evidence was presented to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) that the contents of Cathleen Hendricks' affidavit were false.
“As a result, on October 23, 2025, the court issued a summons was issued and served on Cathleen Hendricks to appear in court. On November 14, 2025, the High Court granted a forfeiture order of the amount of R57,490,” Hani said.
The matter has been postponed until July 14, for sentencing.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
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