Cape Town - A couple and their accomplice who ran a scam defrauding banks with false vehicle finance applications to the tune of R27 million have been sentenced in the Bellville Serious Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville, Cape Town on charges of fraud.
According to the Western Cape spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Zinzi Hani, the mastermind in this crime was Adele Coetzee who was found guilty on 71 charges of fraud and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
The court ordered six years to be suspended for a period of five years.
Her husband, Marius Coetzee was found guilty on 70 charges of Section 37 of the General Law Amendment Act 62 of 1995 and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, of which 10 years were suspended for a period of five years.
Adele will serve nine years and Marius will serve five years direct imprisonment.
Their accomplice, Mariette Cupido, who worked as a sales consultant at a car dealership in Malmesbury, was convicted on two charges of fraud and sentenced to 60 days imprisonment.
She was further charged with 24 months of correctional supervision for her involvement in the crime.
The trio have also been declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The convictions and sentencing comes after the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team, in conjunction with the banking industry, arrested the couple in Brits in the North West in September 2014, for motor vehicle application fraud amounting to R27 million.
In 2017, Cupido was added to the case.
“The trio was involved in a vehicle-purchase scheme by applying for hire-purchase finance from banking institutions using fraudulent documents in which they were submitted via a dealership in Malmesbury.
“Seventy three fraudulent financing transactions were made to the banks between 2012 and 2014, which resulted in a loss of more than R27 million to the banking industry.
“The couple acted as agents for the motor company, to induce buyers to sign offers-to-purchase in respect of cars on sale on the premises,” Hani said.
Hani said during the operation, the investigating team recovered 10 vehicles from a farm in Brits where the Coetzees fled to from the Western Cape.
The couple appeared in the Brits Regional Court in September 2014, but the matter was later transferred to the Malmesbury Regional Court in the jurisdiction area where the crimes took place.
Provincial head of the Hawks, Major General Mathipa Solomon Makgato welcomed the sentencing and lauded the investigating team for ensuring a successful conviction.
IOL