Musician Ginger Baker was taken to the cleaners after showering a pretty bank clerk with gifts, the Paarl Regional Court heard, the Sunday Times reported.
Clerk Lindiwe Noko is accused of siphoning off R420 000 from Baker’s account in eight months.
The court heard how Baker paid for an operation to remove a lump from Noko’s eye.
She looked ”beautiful” afterwards, he told the court.
He was taken in by the ”intelligent” youngster and asked her to work for him after hours doing his personal banking and administration.
He paid her R100 a day, and rewarded her with perks that included a digital camera and a sound system valued at more than R15 000 and
groceries.
Noko also accompanied him on a trip to the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, where he offered to buy her a ring bearing her birth stone as a birthday present. But she settled for a diamond ring worth close to R50 000.
Last year, Baker became suspicious when he noticed R8 500 had been withdrawn from his account. He also discovered that R295 000 had been withdrawn. Noko had allegedly spent the money on a new Golf GTi.
The police found that she had transferred Baker’s money into her account. Noko reportedly deactivated the bank’s iContact service — which notifies clients by SMS and email about account activity.
Noko faced 27 counts of fraud, alternatively theft. She has pleaded not guilty, the Sunday Times said. – Sapa