MANAGER JAILED FOR MULTIMILLION-RAND FRAUD!
A former senior employee at a Pretoria-based food manufacturing company has been sentenced to direct imprisonment after being found guilty of siphoning more than R2 million from his employer over several years.
The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has sentenced 44-year-old Jans Daniel Naude, a former manager at Fanatics Trading (Pty) Ltd, to seven years behind bars for fraud.
However, three years of the sentence have been suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted of fraud or theft during that period.
Naude was also declared unfit to possess a firearm following his conviction on 23 counts of fraud involving amounts exceeding R2 million.
According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, Naude was employed at Fanatics Trading from 2014 until February 2024 as the Technical and Production Manufacturing Facilities Manager. The company operates in the food manufacturing sector, specialising in meat and poultry processing.
Mahanjana explained that Naude’s role gave him control over ordering bulk stock from suppliers, including chicken products.
Between August 2016 and January 2022, he abused this position by generating fake invoices and delivery notes in the name of Federated Meats.
He then replaced the supplier’s legitimate banking details with his own First National Bank account, allowing company payments to be redirected to him.
“As a result of this scheme, more than R2 million was unlawfully paid into Naude’s personal bank account,” said Mahanjana.
The fraudulent activity came to light after company executives noticed unusual and excessive stock orders. An independent forensic audit was commissioned, and once the irregularities were confirmed, the matter was reported to the South African Police Service.
Naude was later summoned to court to face charges.
During the trial, Naude pleaded guilty and admitted that he committed the offences after feeling resentful about being overlooked for a promotion. Through his legal representative, he asked the court to consider a non-custodial sentence, arguing that he was a first-time offender and the sole caregiver to his two minor children.
However, State Advocate Lerato Phoebe Labuschagne opposed any leniency, highlighting the seriousness of the crimes and the breach of trust involved.
She told the court that the financial impact on the company was so severe that it was forced to borrow money to pay staff salaries and urged the magistrate to impose a sentence that would serve as a deterrent.
In delivering judgment, Magistrate Ignatius de Preez ruled that Naude had failed to show genuine remorse and had pleaded guilty only because the state’s case against him was strong. The court also noted that Naude did not explain what he had done with the stolen funds.
The magistrate ultimately found that a prison sentence was warranted, given the scale of the fraud and the abuse of trust involved.