Hawks hail nine-year jail term for Eastern Cape con-woman

The acting head of the Hawks in the Eastern Cape, Brigadier Bongani Maqashalala, is a happy man following the sentencing of a con-woman for swindling millions of rands from former employers.

In a statement released on Friday 3 July by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Maqashalala said he welcomed the sentence handed down to Brigette Wait (36) by the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Port Elizabeth this week.

She was sentenced to nine years direct imprisonment following her conviction on 24 February, where she was found guilty of 223 counts of fraud worth over R3-million.

Bookkeeper gave creditors her personal bank details

According to the Hawks statement, Brigette Wait was employed by TAG Yachts SA in St Francis Bay in an administrative position over the period between Aug 2014 and August 2017. Amongst the duties she performed was to capture payments and prepare invoices for the company’s clients.

The Hawks investigation revealed that she fraudulently changed the bank details of creditors to her own details, resulting in large amounts of money being paid into her bank account.

Left one employer and then began defrauding next one

“This only surfaced when she had left TAG Yachts on her own accord and was employed by the Bull Clothing company in Jeffrey’s Bay, where she defrauded her new employer of approximately R300 000,” the Hawks said.

“She was released on R2 000 bail following her arrest on 6 November 2019 and upon her conviction in February her bail was extended until the sentencing.”

Convicted fraudster ‘stole out of greed’ prosecutor says

A report published by Times Live quotes Eastern Cape National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Anelisa Ngcakani, as that, as the result of the crime, TAG Yachts was placed under business rescue on August 23 2017.

Senior state prosecutor Lise Keech said during sentencing proceedings that Wait spent the money on luxuries – and that she “stole out of greed”.