Living the high life with the millions of rand she stole from a Humansdorp animal hospital for more than five years, Lana Nell broke down in tears on Friday when she was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Despite pleading her past of abuse and constant need for affirmation as a reason for the R4.5m fraud, it didn't sway the Gqeberha Commercial Crimes Court, where the 46-year-old's sentence was meted out on Friday.
The money was stolen between January 2018 and February 2023 while Nell was an employee of the Humansdorp Veterinary Clinic working in the financial department.
The matter was reported to the Hawks in February 2023.
Nell, who wore a black jacket and a blue scarf during her sentence, was arrested about four months later.
As magistrate Vuziwe Mnyani read out her sentence, Nell, who cut a lonely figure in the dock, and her family, seated in the gallery, couldn't contain their emotions.
Laying bare Nell's motive, Mnyani said she didn't just steal to maintain her opulent lifestyle but also shattered lives to fuel her own desires.
"You have abused your position of trust," Mnyani said.
"[Nell] substituted banking details of creditors with that of her own. She then transferred the money [that was paid into] her Bidvest account to her Capitec account
Nell, who funneled just over R21m through her own bank accounts but essentially pocketed only R4.5m, redirected her ill-gotten gains straight from her then-employer, Humansdorp Veterinary Clinic, the charge sheet read.
As a bookkeeper at the clinic, Nell was entrusted with handling payments.
However, she seemed to have abused the trust by swapping the clinic's creditors' banking details with her own, inflating the amounts owed to the clinic, according to Mnyani.
She then rerouted payments from the creditors into her account, skimming off the top before paying the correct amounts back, the court found.
Out of the total R21,153,280.99 deposited into her account, she returned R16,320,368.98 to the clinic and its creditors, keeping the rest for herself.
Despite having limited access to the clinic's online First National Bank banking platform for payments, Nell manipulated the system to her advantage, loading payments herself but having them authorised by the clinic.
The court turned a deaf ear to Nell's attempt to mitigate her guilt by offering a retirement annuity worth R21,000, as her claims of victimhood failed to convince.
Prior to this, the state unveiled Nell's extravagant spending spree.
She splurged on luxury accommodations in places like Jeffreys Bay and Knysna, hosted lavish dinners, and indulged in alcohol with friends, family, and her husband.
Additionally, she financially supported her adult children, who were struggling financially, according to the state.
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Woman jailed for 15 years for R4.8m fraud
Image: BRANDON NEL
Living the high life with the millions of rand she stole from a Humansdorp animal hospital for more than five years, Lana Nell broke down in tears on Friday when she was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Despite pleading her past of abuse and constant need for affirmation as a reason for the R4.5m fraud, it didn't sway the Gqeberha Commercial Crimes Court, where the 46-year-old's sentence was meted out on Friday.
The money was stolen between January 2018 and February 2023 while Nell was an employee of the Humansdorp Veterinary Clinic working in the financial department.
The matter was reported to the Hawks in February 2023.
Nell, who wore a black jacket and a blue scarf during her sentence, was arrested about four months later.
As magistrate Vuziwe Mnyani read out her sentence, Nell, who cut a lonely figure in the dock, and her family, seated in the gallery, couldn't contain their emotions.
Laying bare Nell's motive, Mnyani said she didn't just steal to maintain her opulent lifestyle but also shattered lives to fuel her own desires.
"You have abused your position of trust," Mnyani said.
"[Nell] substituted banking details of creditors with that of her own. She then transferred the money [that was paid into] her Bidvest account to her Capitec account
Nell, who funneled just over R21m through her own bank accounts but essentially pocketed only R4.5m, redirected her ill-gotten gains straight from her then-employer, Humansdorp Veterinary Clinic, the charge sheet read.
As a bookkeeper at the clinic, Nell was entrusted with handling payments.
However, she seemed to have abused the trust by swapping the clinic's creditors' banking details with her own, inflating the amounts owed to the clinic, according to Mnyani.
She then rerouted payments from the creditors into her account, skimming off the top before paying the correct amounts back, the court found.
Out of the total R21,153,280.99 deposited into her account, she returned R16,320,368.98 to the clinic and its creditors, keeping the rest for herself.
Despite having limited access to the clinic's online First National Bank banking platform for payments, Nell manipulated the system to her advantage, loading payments herself but having them authorised by the clinic.
The court turned a deaf ear to Nell's attempt to mitigate her guilt by offering a retirement annuity worth R21,000, as her claims of victimhood failed to convince.
Prior to this, the state unveiled Nell's extravagant spending spree.
She splurged on luxury accommodations in places like Jeffreys Bay and Knysna, hosted lavish dinners, and indulged in alcohol with friends, family, and her husband.
Additionally, she financially supported her adult children, who were struggling financially, according to the state.
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