FREE STATE – Elizabeth Christina Knouwds (40) and Willem Johannes van Tonder (35) were sentenced to ten years direct imprisonment by the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on 01 October 2020 for fraud, corruption, money laundering and involvement in criminal gang activities.
The convicted persons operated a second-hand vehicle dealership, namely “Lulu’s Auto CC” in Jacobsdal between May 2008 to October 2009. The accused persons colluded and submitted several vehicle finance application with fraudulent documents to Absa bank in Kimberley. They then inflated the value of the vehicles to a total of almost R43 million.
After the money was paid out by the bank, they then pocketed the difference from the inflated value. The Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation arrested the pair along with fellow syndicate members, Theresa Madeleine Elaine Meyer (49), and Charl Nico Fredericks (40), who were served with subpoenas to appear in court also on fraud charges in contravention of Prevention Organised Crime Act (POCA). Theresa Madeleine Elaine Meyer has since passed on and charges against Fredericks were later dropped.
Knouwds and van Tonder were found guilty and were each sentenced to ten (10) years for fraud, four (4) years for money laundering and four (4) years for involvement in criminal gang activities. The sentences have been ordered to run concurrently, meaning an effective ten (10) years imprisonment for each convict.