Gauteng man who stole almost R1 million from an Absa Vereeniging client, jailed to 20 years

VEREENIGING - The Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court sentenced a man who stole almost R1-million from an Absa Vereeniging account holder over two months to 20 years in prison. Coetzer, a repeated fraudster allegedly caused significant reputational damage to Absa Bank when he pretended to be an attonrey of the High Court of South Africa and stated that he was lawfully appointed by the account holder to be granted access to perform transactions from his client’s account. Between October 9 and November 7, 2015, Coetzer transferred R956,900 from the the account of Angelia Evangelia Kallinkos at the Absa Vereeniging branch to his own. Senior State Advocate Tilas Chabalala argued that the bank’s reputation suffered as it appeared unable to protect its client’s savings. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson confirmed Christjan Hendrik Coetzer was sentenced to 75 years for multiple counts of fraud, theft, and money laundering. However, the court ruled that the sentences would run concurrently, resulting in an effective term of 20 years.