Free State financial advisor found guilty of R2 million theft
The Specialised Commercial Crime Court sitting in Sasolburg found a 58-year-old Free State woman charged with 1 116 counts of theft in connection with theft of millions of rands guilty.
Mareli Vogel was arrested in September 2021 after a case was opened against her at Sasolburg SAPS in January 2020 and charged for theft of money stolen from a company she was working for.
According to the Hawks provincial spokesperson, Fikiswa Matoti, the owner of the business was notified by ABSA bank on 24 December 2019 about the alleged theft.
“An internal investigation was conducted by the business owner, where it was discovered that Vogel, who was the financial officer and the only person having access to the business online banking at the time, fraudulently transferred money from the business account to her personal account between 2014 and 2020 to an estimated value of R2 500 000.”
A case was reported and referred to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team based in Bethlehem for further probe.
“An intense investigation by the team led to the successful conviction of Vogel who remained in custody since her arrested. She is due to appear in the same court for sentencing on June 1, 2023,” Matoti said.
