POLOKWANE – A 37-year-old woman was convicted on 80 counts of fraud and one count of money laundering by the Polokwane Specialised Commercial Court in Polokwane on Friday (August 8).

The case involved Thoko Evelyn Ndlovu, who defrauded clients of Old Mutual Marble Hall of R2.5m.

The court heard that since 2015, Ndlovu had been advising clients to invest or buy shares and then instructed them to deposit their money into her personal Nedbank account.

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Instead of paying the funds into the company’s account, she used the money for personal gain.

The Limpopo police spokesperson Col Malesela Ledwaba said after five years, clients became concerned when they were not receiving information regarding the maturity date of their investments.

“Upon inquiring at Old Mutual, the victims were surprised to find that their information was not on the company’s system. Old Mutual’s investigation led them to advise the clients to open fraud cases with the police,” he said.

Ledwaba added that the cases of fraud and money laundering were assigned to Sergeant Ellias Mathenji.

“Through his investigation, he discovered that Ndlovu’s bank account was used in the commission of the crimes. Ndlovu was arrested in March 2023 and granted bail of R50 000. She was found guilty, convicted, and sentenced on August 8 was also declared unfit to possess a firearm,” his statement read.

Provincial Commissioner of police in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, welcomed the conviction and sentencing.