12 years for R12m theft

The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court has sentenced a retired attorney who ripped off fellow pensioners to an effective 12 years’ imprisonment after it found him guilty on more than 100 counts of theft.

Carel Froneman, 68, who practised in KwaZulu-Natal until 1998, was the managing director of Seniors for Seniors Management Services and several entities specialising in winding up estates.

He was found guilty in September last year on 185 counts of theft involving R11.8 million. The money was taken from 14 deceased estates of which he was executor.

He enticed the aged to appoint him as executor by offering to charge them an executor’s fee of 1 percent rather than the prescribed 3.5 percent.

According to the State, Froneman, who is diabetic and underwent a heart operation a few years ago, acted as the executor of 68 estates and diverted millions of rand from these into his company.

Passing sentence on Tuesday, Pretoria magistrate Dawie Jacobs said Froneman knew that what he was doing was illegal but continued with his actions. Jacobs said the theft from the estates took place over a long period and Froneman’s actions were thoroughly planned.

“They were not committed in a moment of weakness… and the victims were elderly people,” said Jacobs.

He said the victims lost their partners’ lifetime savings, which they would not be able to recover. “They had planned to live a comfortable life with the proceeds from the estates,” he said.

According to Jacobs, Froneman knew Seniors for Seniors was bankrupt but continued channelling money into its account in an attempt to attract investors. “The company’s balance looked good… but this (balance) was built on stolen money,” he said.

Jacobs said Froneman was a respectable man and was put in a position of trust by the master of the high court, who appointed him the executor of the estates. “He knew what this position of trust entailed, but he abused it,” he said.

Jacobs said Froneman undertook a number of fruitless trips overseas to attract investors, using money from the estates.

He added that Froneman had lied to the court that his former partner Pieter Bothma would give him R6m which he could use to pay back some of the victims.

Jacobs said the court was not convinced that Froneman had shown any remorse, adding that the fact that he was old and diabetic did not mean the court should not send him to jail. “There are adequate health facilities in correctional centres to cater for the needs of any offender,” said Jacobs.

Meanwhile, one of Froneman’s victims, who did not wish to be identified, said yesterday she was disappointed that he (Froneman) did not get a lengthy jail term.

The 78-year-old woman said Froneman caused many people pain and heartache. “I am sad he did not get a longer sentence, because of the heartache he caused. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do (about the sentence),” she said. - Pretoria News