Riaan Theunissen. (Photo: Provided)
An apple farmer from Grabouw in the Western Cape who stood trial on 473 charges of fraud was sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud in the regional court in Cape Town this week.
Lt. Col. Siyabulela Vukubi, spokesperson for the Hawks, says Riaan Theunissen (38) will serve eight years of direct imprisonment.
The charges against Theunissen follow after he embezzled money from his previous employer, Just Properties in Table View. The crimes were committed between June 2016 and August 2023 and a warrant for Theunissen’s arrest was issued on 12 December 2024.
At the time, he was released on bail of R30 000.
Vukubi says Theunissen hid and facilitated irregular payments and, among other things, circumvented controls in the PayProp system’s payment module by archiving certain transactions.
“He did not follow the company’s approval and payment policy and procedures. He was charged with 473 counts of fraud amounting to R5 552 000,” says Vukubi.
Theunissen worked as an apple farmer on a family farm after the fraud incident.
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