Ex-golf club manager gets 8 years for R2.3m theft
The Pretoria North man was found guilty last week on 272 counts of theft at the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court.
A former manager at the Services Golf Club in Centurion has been sentenced to eight years in prison after he stole R2.3-million between January and November 2016.
Deon Frisby (56) was found guilty last week on 272 counts of theft, amounting to R2.359-million, at the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court.
Frisby, formerly a pastor, was appointed as the acting general manager of the club in November 2015.
Shortly after his appointment, the club’s executive committee approved Frisby as a signatory to their bank account, along with two others.
All payments required two of the signatories to co-sign, and after one signatory retired and members of the executive committee resigned, Frisby gained access to the banking systems by presenting a falsified letter to the bank stating that he had “unlimited access” to the account.
According to court documents, Frisby said that he was trying to make a success of the club, and that “he wanted to be the hero who kept the Golf Club afloat”.
The fraud was discovered after the chairperson at the time gained access to the banking records of the Club.
Van Wyk discovered that 272 payments ranging from R200 to R50 000 from January to November 2016, were made into personal bank accounts.
A criminal case was registered with SAPS, and an investigation by the Commercial Crime Unit was initiated.
Frisby, who started his working life as a detective at the SAPS, told the court he had been the pastor at a church for seven years, but he had to leave his post after charges were laid against him.
On June 8, 2017, following a sting operation by SAPS members in Durban, Frisby was arrested and brought to book.
The case was transferred to the Commercial Crime Court in Pretoria after his initial appearance in Durban.
After Frisby was released on R10 000 bail, and after several delays in court proceedings, he pled guilty on May 13, 2022.
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