SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – A local contractor was sentenced to probation on Monday after participating in tax fraud involving hundreds of thousands of dollars over three years.
Dennis Condron owned and operated D. Condron Construction in Berkshire County. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, he pleaded guilty to four counts of tax fraud in February.
Condron, 76, hid over half a million dollars in customer checks by cashing them and diverting them to his personal accounts and did not tell his tax preparer about it. This happened over a three-year period.
As a result, Condron kept hundreds of thousands of dollars that he should have paid in federal and state income taxes, the attorney’s office said.
Along with one year of probation, Condron was ordered to pay a $40,000 fine and over $200,000 in restitution after the government recommended six months in prison.
Copyright 2026…
THE ISUZU MOTORS PAYROLL FRAUD (GQEBERHA, SA)
Date: February 16, 2026 Perpetrator: Natasja Slabbert (42)
Case Description: In a case that hit home for the Eastern Cape business community, Natasja Slabbert, a payroll administrator at Isuzu Motors South Africa’s Struandale plant, was arrested for an alleged R10.5 million fraud. The scheme, which began surfacing in late 2024, exploited the very systems designed to manage employee compensation. Slabbert allegedly manipulated payroll records to create false entries that appeared as legitimate deductions and contributions on employee payslips. In reality, these “deductions” were being diverted into her personal bank account.
The fraud was only uncovered after diligent employees noticed that their net “take-home” pay was significantly lower than expected, despite the gross amounts on their payslips remaining high. Following a thorough probe by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team and the NPA’s Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, it was discovered that in August 2024 alone, over R626,000 was unlawfully transferred. Slabbert was granted bail of R5,000 on February 17, 2026, and the case has been postponed to later in the month for further legal proceedings. This case highlights the critical need for “segregation of duties” in payroll departments, as a single point of failure allowed for the systematic siphoning of millions over nearly two years.
Link to Original: PE Express – Isuzu Payroll Fraud