The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has sentenced Prishne Khan (37) to 10 years imprisonment for defrauding two companies that she worked for and embezzling more than R3 million to gamble. 

BROKEN TRUST

NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said Khan was convicted of 63 counts of fraud following her employment as a bookkeeper at Northern Cricket Union from June 2015 to 18 January 2017. Mahanjana said included in Khan's responsibilities was processing payments for various service providers and instead of executing her duties honestly, she altered banking details on multiple client invoices. "She replaced them with those of her husband and cousin, misappropriating R350,000 over six weeks between May and June 2016. When questioned about her actions, Khan resigned from her position," explained Mahanjana.

SECOND TIME LUCKY

Mahanjana said after Khan resigned she secured another job as a finance manager at Customer Loyalty Consultant (PTY) Ltd from 9 March 2017 to 30 September 2017. "This role provided her with access to the company's bank account and banking systems. During her employment, Khan again manipulated customer banking details to funnel payments into accounts controlled by her husband and cousin. Despite her ability to process payments, she could not execute them immediately due to a token needed, which was the responsibility of another employee," Mahanjana said. She added that after Khan left the company in September 2017, another employee provided her with the token, allowing her to release payments totalling more than R3 million to herself from September 2017 to March 2018. "The fraudulent activities came to light when the bank alerted the company about suspicious transactions. Subsequent investigations by the police led to Khan being arrested. Her first court appearance was on May 31, 2018," Mahanjana said. 

SHE STOLE THE MONEY TO GAMBLE 

 Khan pleaded guilty to the charges and attributed her criminal conduct to financial difficulties, claiming she needed the money for essentials, including purchasing a motor vehicle for her husband. However, evidence in the pre-sentence report revealed that she had used the stolen funds for gambling. In addition to this, she received a further four year imprisonment for theft amounting to R350,000, with the court ordering that these sentences run concurrently, resulting in an effective sentence of 10 years in prison. During sentencing proceedings, Khan sought leniency based on her responsibilities towards her three minor children, aged 6, 12, and 15, and cited ill health as factors in her favour. In response, Prosecutor Advocate Pulane Segalo argued that Khan had committed serious offences, emphasising that she had betrayed the trust of her employers for personal gain. "Segalo urged the court to impose a sentence of direct imprisonment to reflect the gravity of Khan's actions. The matter was postponed to March 3, 2023, for the judgment on the sentence; however, Khan absconded, leading to a warrant for her arrest," added Mahanjana. Over a year later, on 30 August 2024, she was located hiding in a freezer at her new home in Nigel, leading to her arrest and court appearance on Monday.