DINAH Botes, 42, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court after she was found guilty on 126 counts of theft.

The North West spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), Lieutenant-Colonel Tinyiko Mathebula, said trouble started piling up for Botes back in 2022, when she was working for a mining company.

“Reports indicate that between 2014 and 2019, when Botes was still an employee at Sitona Mining, she allegedly transferred over R9 million from the company's coffers into her personal bank accounts,” said Mathebula.

Following an investigation by the Hawks' Rustenburg-based serious commercial crime investigation unit, a warrant of arrest was issued against Botes and it was executed on June 13, 2022.

She appeared in court on the same day and was released on R30,000 bail, said Mathebula.

“After making a series of court appearances, she was convicted and sentenced to 15 years for theft,” he said.

The North West provincial head of the Hawks, Major-General Patrick Mbotho, aluted the investigation and prosecution team for their “sterling work”.

A financial officer of a primary school in Mpumalanga, Larrisa Aloma Vern, was arrested for fraud. Picture: Hawks

Last week, a 52-year-old financial officer of a primary school in Mpumalanga, Larrisa Aloma Vern, was remanded in custody when she appeared before the Delmas Magistrate’s Court on fraud charges.

Vern appeared in court after she was arrested by the Hawks for allegedly defrauding the school of an amount over R2.6 million.

The vase against Vern was postponed to Monday and Tuesday for formal bail application, according to Mpumalanga provincial Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi.

Vern was appointed by Delmas Primary School as a financial officer in December 2021.

“Her duties and responsibilities were to make payments for services rendered, pay salaries to teachers appointed by the school governing body, receive cash for sales made at the school, manage the school budget, ensure expenses do not exceed budget, handling petty cash and making deposits at the bank,” said Sekgotodi.