The Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in Gauteng, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa welcomes the sentence handed down to Hildegard Antoinette Steenkamp (50) on Friday, 21 April 2023.
She was found guilty on 336 counts of fraud and theft by the Palmridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
The accused was employed as an accountant for a pharmaceutical company Medtronic Africa from 2004 to 2017 and later resigned.
Reports revealed that Steenkamp was given authority to add or remove creditors from the company’s database as part of her job description.
She later added her husband into the company’s database as a creditor between 2004 and 2016 where Steenkamp transferred approximately R4.63 million from the company’s account into her late husband’s estate account, while other company funds were allegedly transferred into her son’s personal account.
The company ran their own internal investigation and a case was opened and transferred to the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in Germiston for further probing.
The Hawks’ thorough Investigation revealed that the company suffered financial loss for services that were never rendered by Steenkamp’s late husband.
The case against her son who was also arrested was subsequently withdrawn.
Steenkamp handed herself to the authorities in 2018 and was granted bail.
She made several court appearances and was later convicted.
The case was postponed to 14 and 16 August 2023 for sentencing.
