A California jury has awarded nearly $9.4 million to a medical supply distributor after finding that a Wyoming-based logistics broker and its managing member made fraudulent representations that led to a failed $9.5 million shipment of medical gloves.
The Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found Oak Sourcing & Logistics LLC and Matthew John Sandvig liable for intentional misrepresentation in a dispute with Ashtel Studios Inc., a California company that imported nitrile examination gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Oct. 9 verdict awarded Ashtel $9.397 million in economic damages, including $6.43 million in out-of-pocket expenditures and nearly $2.97 million in other economic losses.
The dispute centered on Oak Sourcing’s representations about its financial resources, customer contracts and ability to purchase millions of boxes of medical gloves.
According…
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