A North West maize-mill company was fleeced of more than R9 million allegedly by its financial manager, who the state claims used his three bank accounts for “payments” from non-existent service providers.
Reginald Scholtz, 57, appeared in the Mmabatho specialised commercial crimes court, sitting in Delareyville, on 12 March and faces 61 counts of fraud for allegedly stealing money from his employer, Botselo Mills.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), in the draft charge sheet prepared for Scholtz’s criminal case, stated that the alleged fraudster’s position at the company gave him access to transact on Botselo Mills’s Nedbank bank account.
Scholtz created alleged fictitious service providers for Botselo Mills, and would “pay” the supposed fake companies, but would allegedly divert the funds to bank accounts the state says belonged to him, the NPA claims.
The 61 counts of fraud are for the same number of transactions that Scholtz allegedly initiated over a five-year period from 6 January 2017, the date of the first payment, to 18 August 2022, when the last supposedly bogus purchase was made.
“As a group financial manager, the accused had access to bank accounts belonging to the company. The accused was authorised to transact on these accounts, but within the company’s banking system,” reads the draft charge sheet.
It was compiled by advocate Bongani Chauke, the head of the NPA’s specialised commercial crimes unit in North West.
The charge sheet added that Scholtz was “the holder” of bank accounts at Standard Bank, First National Bank and Absa.
“The accused gave out and pretended to the company that the [Standard Bank, FNB and Absa] bank accounts were and/or belonged to the service providers of [Botselo Mills]. This he did while knowing that the [Standard Bank, FNB and Absa] accounts were his own personal bank accounts and not those of the companies and/or service providers of [Botselo Mills], and were not created for payment reasons,” the state asserts.
The NPA further claims that Scholtz would make up reference information “under the guise of [made up] reasons” to perpetuate the alleged payments to service providers fraud.
“The accused also gave out and pretended that the said payments and/or transfers of money from the bank account of Botselo Mills to the bank accounts [of the alleged bogus service providers] was with the approval of Botselo Mills. He further misrepresented that he had concurrence of the first and second releasers as required by [his employer’s] system, and that such concurrence enabled him to transfer the amounts,” the NPA alleges.
According to a breakdown of the 61 transactions in the charge sheet, Scholtz had more than 30 different service providers that he allegedly paid, with references including REG Scholtz, Petty Cash and Cash, among others.
His most profitable year was in 2020, when he allegedly made off with more than R2.7 million in 18 transactions, according to the state.
The state asserts that Scholtz’s least productive year was 2017, the first year of the supposed graft, when he allegedly took home R778 770.79 in 13 transactions.
The breakdown of payments from the NPA documents suggest that Scholtz became emboldened as the years went on, and apparently surpassed the 2017 amount in just seven of the 10 transactions in 2019, with those seven payments totalling R782 839.18.
In 2020, in just four of the 18 transactions that year, the accused allegedly stole R822 278.89, which was more than the money supposedly stolen in 2017 in 13 payments.
The last four transactions included the biggest amount of money the state claims was stolen from Botselo Mills — R853 400 on 17 June 2020 — the third-last payment.
According to Scholtz’s profile on a business and employment online service, the alleged fraudster referred to himself as a result-oriented financial management professional and employs a “participative management style, taking a hands-on approach to deliver best-fit solutions against business requirements.” He claims to instil trust and motivate others to create strong and cohesive teams.
Henry Mamothame, the NPA’s spokesperson in North West, said in a statement that the investigation into Scholtz’s alleged theft was conducted by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.
“The director of public prosecutions in the North West, Dr Rachel Makhari, and the North West provincial commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, lauded all the role-players for their collaboration, leading to the arrest and court appearance,” Mamothame stated.
Scholtz will return to court on 3 May. He was released on R10 000 bail with strict conditions, including that he had to report to his nearest police station every Monday between 6am and 6pm.