A Gezina second-hand car dealer was recently jailed for 10 years for defrauding people who entrusted their vehicles to him to sell on their behalf.
Eugene Viljoen, owner of Houding Motors in Gezina, was convicted on 158 charges of theft and fraud in the Commercial Crime Court in Pretoria. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, of which five years have been suspended.
Moot police spokesperson Lieutenant Linda Jerling said this week Viljoen would be eligible for parole after he had served six years and six months of his sentence.
Car owners had trusted Viljoen to sell their vehicles and hand the money over to them after the transaction went through. They left the vehicles on his premises for this purpose.
Jerling said Viljoen never paid them and the cases of theft and fraud started piling up.
Investigating officer Captain Wessie van der Westhuizen closed down Viljoen’s business in 2012 as he did not have the necessary permits or documentation to trade.
“During the captain’s initial investigation he discovered cases of fraud and theft had been opened against Viljoen in Pretoria, Vanderbijlpark, Sebokeng and Rustenburg,” Jerling said.
A warrant of arrest was issued for Viljoen and his wife Alta.
Jerling said the couple kept moving around Pretoria in a bid to escape arrest, but Van der Westhuizen eventually caught up with them and both appeared in court.
Charges against Alta had since been provisionally withdrawn.
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