East London family cons Road Accident Fund out of R11m

An East London personal assistant has allegedly embezzled R11m from Road Accident Funds (RAF), administered by an auditing firm between December 2013 and December 2018. 

The PA has been arrested, along with five family members whose bank accounts were allegedly used in the loot.

PA appears in court with her family 

According to DispatchLive, Magaretha “Retha” Voogt was a PA at the East London-based Moore Stephens PDB auditing firm between May 2004 and December 2018, until she was fired for absconding from work.

She appeared in the East London magistrate’s court on Tuesday 3 December 2019 with her husband Alec DP Voogt, sister-in-law Bernie van Eden, stepdaughter Kirstie Leigh Voogt, daughter Seanna Jane Voogt and mother Magaretha Theresa Coetzee.

They were charged with 61 counts relating to fraud, theft and contravention of the Organised Crime Act.

Hawks swoop in at family home 

The Hawks closed in on the Amalinda family in the early hours on Tuesday morning, in connection with the disappearance of approximately R11.5m that was meant to have paid 17 of Moore Stephens’s creditors and 13 road accident victims.  

Voogt and her husband were granted bail of R10,000 each and their four relatives were released on warning pending their next appearance on 29 January 2019.

According to the charge sheet, Voogt’s employer, a director at Moore Stephens in East London and a complainant in the matter, has for more than 20 years been appointed by the court to administer funds paid by RAF to settle claims. Once the money is invested, Moore Stephens determines the amount of the monthly allowance to be paid to the beneficiaries.

Voogt manipulated payment of invoices 

Voogt helped open accounts at PSG, monitored such funds, and also facilitated the processing of payments to business creditors of Moore Stephens.

“Voogt Manipulated payment of the invoices for the service providers by changing bank account numbers in the electronic fund transfer documents, thereby causing payments intended for service providers to be paid into her own account or that of her co-accused.”

Magistrate

“The [husband], who is an accomplished artist who dabbles in design, acted with [Voogt], by assisting in the design and production of payment requisitions bearing a falsified signature of the complainant as well as falsified bank statements.”

Magistrate

“She was a highly trusted member of our staff, whom we would have thought of as the last person to do anything like this,” said her former employer.