A bookkeeper, formerly in the employ of the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation, appeared in a court in Cape Town on Monday, facing multiple fraud charges.
Lucille Booth, 54, hopes to enter into a plea bargain, to be negotiated by legal aid attorney Harley Cloete with prosecutor Denzyl Combrink.
If the negotiations succeed, the plea bargain will be presented to magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg, in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville, on November 3.
If the negotiations fail, the State is likely to schedule the matter for trial in the normal manner when Booth appears again.
Booth was engaged by the SARGF, as its permanent bookkeeper in April seven years ago, to be based at the Kenilworth branch in Cape Town – only to be fired five years later in October, 2014.
Her duties included the payment of creditors’ and third party invoices, and the control of the cashbook and petty cash.
The charge sheet alleges that, through manipulation of the electronic system, she made numerous unauthorised requests for payments totalling R500 764, which she channelled into her own personal bank account.
The alleged embezzlement was uncovered during an external audit, which resulted in her dismissal.
She now faces 39 counts of fraud.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
