The Acting Provincial Head of the Hawks in the Eastern Cape, Brigadier Selina Maponya welcomed the conviction handed down to Karl Olinger (64) when he appeared at the East London Regional Court for numerous charges of theft of Trust funds on 22 February 2022.
During the period between 1999 and 2007, Olinger, as a practicing attorney, received trust funds on behalf of his clients, but did not use the funds for the intended purpose. This resulted in a number of his clients lodging complaints with East London based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team of the Hawks for probing.
The probe by the Hawks revealed that Olinger received proceeds of the sales of numerous immovable properties but did not pay the proceeds over to his clients. In another instance, he was instructed by a client to recover funds owed to the client by debtor. The debtor paid the funds into the trust account of the accused, however he did not pay the funds over to his client.
The accused further represented the Maletswai Municipality in recovering outstanding rates from a municipal client. The unpaid municipal rates were paid into the trust account of the Olinger and did not pay the funds over to the municipality.
Olinger was also appointed as an executor in the winding of the deceased estate .The complainant paid a total of more than R181 000-00 in respect of the winding up of the estate. He did not finalise the winding up of the estate.
The accused was again appointed as an executor of a second estate. He received a total amount of more than R319 000-00 in respect of the estate. The claims against the estate amounted to no more than R197 000-00 but Olinger only disbursed an amount of less than R173 000-00.
Findings by the Hawks revealed that Olinger prejudiced his client’s cash to the value of more than R467 000-00. He was convicted on 22 February 2022 and the matter is remanded to 09 May 2022 for sentencing.
