A FRAUDSTER who swindled over R4.8m from a Bayhead-based company, now operating in Springfield, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Vinola Naidoo (41) was found guilty on charges of fraud and money laundering at the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. She pleaded guilty to the charges.

Naidoo was employed at Channel Construction (PTY) LTD from 2016, first as an assistant finance manager and later as finance manager.

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Between August 2016 and August 2019, she created fraudulent payment packs / interim audit reports and sent these to the owner of the company Mohammed Hafzal Razak for his approval.

Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said that Razak approved them, believing that the payments were for legitimate service providers of the company.

“Further, Naidoo altered the payment beneficiary details on the company’s system to reflect her own banking details, and the payments went into her personal bank account. This caused the company to suffer the loss of over R4.8m.

“Following Naidoo’s resignation in 2020, Razak requested an investigation into the company’s financial records, and the offences were discovered. In finalising this matter, Razak provided an affidavit saying that he approved of the Section 105A plea and sentence agreement. This matter was successfully prosecuted by Adv. Joel Kisten,” said Ramkisson-Kara.

She added that the NPA will continue to prosecute matters of this nature vigorously.

“By working together with the Director for Priority Crime Investigation and other stakeholders, we will ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice,” she said.

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