Former magistrate in dock for fraud
She is accused of faking garnishing orders to commit the fraud
MBOMBELA – A former magistrate was in the dock yesterday in the same court in which she used to preside, facing 71 counts of fraud. Magriet Botha (55) from Magriet Botha Attorneys is accused of faking garnishing orders to commit the fraud. She handed herself over to police and briefly appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court.
The state advocate, Patrick Nkuna, said Botha, as an attorney, collected debts for Sijabulile Finance Corporation, a micro-loan business owned by Vincent Meiring.
They had an oral agreement to share the money equally.
According to Nkuna, Botha approached Meiring’s wife Marie with samples of court stamps for Nelspruit, Barberton, KaBokweni and White River courts. She gave Marie the samples to be made at a stationery shop.
On the day when they had to be collected, the accused said she could not afford all of them and only requested the stamps from White River Magistrate’s Court to be delivered.
Nkuna claimed Botha prepared the administration papers and various court orders and instructed two of her staff members to forge the signatures of clients of the cash-loan company.
These ordered the clients’ salaries to be deducted and deposited directly into Botha’s trust account. None of the money was ever paid to the company. “She used the money for her own purpose,” Nkuna said.
He added Botha had first tried to make it look like she had been a victim.
When clients complained to Meiring that their salaries were being deducted, although they were up to date with payments, he requested to see all the files that she used to apply for the orders against them.
“After this Botha went on a rampage. She opened cases against Meiring and his wife and her own staff members.”
“Upon investigation, police saw the evidence showed she was the perpetrator.”
The monetary value of the fraud was not disclosed, as the state still had to calculate it.
Nkuna said the state would allow Botha to be released on a warning as she had surrendered herself to the police that morning with her attorney, Coert Jordaan.
The matter was postponed until August 3 for further investigation.. “Upon investigation, police saw the evidence showed she was the perpetrator.”
The monetary value of the fraud was not disclosed, as the state still had to calculate it. Nkuna said the state would allow Botha to be released on a warning as she had surrendered herself to the police that morning with her attorney, Coert Jordaan.
The matter was postponed until August 3 for further investigation.
