In a landmark ruling, the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has convicted and sentenced 44-year-old Amanda Gloria Edgar to a direct 10-year imprisonment term for fraud and money laundering. The sentencing was handed down on Wednesday, 10 September 2025.
The conviction stems from a sophisticated international property scam that took place between October 2015 and September 2016. The case involved a complainant who was in the process of purchasing a property in Croatia. During negotiations, the complainant met with an individual they believed to be the legitimate owner of the property.
An agreement was reached to purchase the property for €850,000, with an immediate deposit of €300,000 (over R4.5 million at the time) required. The remaining balance was to be paid within a two-year period, as stipulated in a formal contract.
Shortly after the meeting, the complainant received the contract via email. The document reflected the agreed-upon amount and included instructions to pay the deposit into a specified First National Bank (FNB) account. Acting in good faith, the complainant made the multi-million rand payment on the same day.
The scheme began to unravel when the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) flagged the substantial transaction as suspicious. The FIC contacted the complainant to alert him that a potential fraudulent transaction was in progress. However, at that time, the victim confirmed the payment was legitimate and for a property purchase.
The matter was subsequently escalated and reported to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit. Their probe revealed that the complainant had fallen victim to an elaborate scam. Investigators discovered that the FNB account which received the R4.5 million did not belong to any property seller, but to a company named Peak Global. The company was owned by the accused, Amanda Gloria Edgar.
Further forensic investigation revealed that immediately upon receiving the funds, Edgar had systematically transferred the money to various other business and personal bank accounts in a clear act of money laundering.
Edgar was arrested on 23 October 2023 at the Delft Police Station and was later granted bail. After a lengthy legal process, she was finally convicted and sentenced this week. The court ordered that five years of her 10-year sentence be suspended, meaning she will serve an effective five years of imprisonment.
