A former financial advisor Stephanus Janse van Rensburg has pleaded guilty to stealing R1,8 million.
Van Rensburg appeared in the Port Elizabeth Specialised Commerical Crimes Court, where he admitted to selling fictitious “second-hand policies”.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the 68-year-old former financial advisor admitted that he sold nine fake Old Mutual and Momentum second-hand policies to Esther Freesia Adendoff between July 2008 and March 2015.
“Van Rensburg convinced Adendoff to sign the cessionary agreements and to pay over the agreed amounts,” explained the NPA.
The unsuspecting “client” made 15 payments amounting to R1,8 million rand.
To cover up the scam, Van Rensburg provided Adendoff with fictitious documents that he pretended were a summary of her investment values for tax purposes.
However, matters came to a head when Adendoff’s son demanded copies of documents related to the policies.
Van Rensburg could not produce the documents and it was subsequently discovered that the Old Mutual and Momentum policies were never transferred or registered in the name of Adendoff.
The policies did not belong to any of the individual’s Van Rensburg claimed in his fake documents.
Caught out, Van Rensburg was reported to the police and arrested on 8 February 2021.
Prosecutor, Senior State Advocate Lise Keech accepted the gulty plea and Magistrate Nolitha Bara found Van Rensburg guilty of theft.
The case was postponed to 4 October 2021 for sentencing.
