/ 6 March 2011

Estate agent Machanik granted bail

Property company owner, 64-year-old Wendy Machanik and her 46-year-old chief financial officer, Bruce Bernstein, were granted bail of R25 000 and R5 000 respectively in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Friday, the Sunday Times reported.

Machanik and Bernstein appeared in court on charges of conspiring to commit fraud.

They allegedly made irregular transfers worth R28-million from Machanik’s company, Wendy Machanik Property Holdings, to a fictitious account.

They also allegedly failed to reflect 116 transfers of money between the firm’s trust account and its business account in their financial records.

They were arrested and charged on Friday.

Machanik appeared in court on New Year’s Eve last year for the first time after the Estate Agency Affairs Board launched an audit into her company’s financial transactions. Her company’s trust account has since been placed under curatorship.

Machanik allegedly used the R28-million in question to keep her company afloat and for personal expenses.

She and Bernstein are expected to appear in court again on April 15.

As part of her bail conditions she had to hand in her passport and was ordered not to interfere with witnesses. – Sapa