Jonathan Simon Blow was stealing millions from the Spar retailer, but now he’s been found guilty of his crime. Picture: Hawks
An Eastern Cape accountant has been found guilty of siphoning millions from his employer by the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
Jonathan Simon Blow, 52, was convicted on charges of theft and fraud on Wednesday, September 6, for defrauding his clients, Sunridge Superspar and Despatch Superspar.
Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as Hawks) provincial spokesperson, Captain Yolisa Mgolodela said the accountant committed the crimes between July 3, 2020, and September 19, 2022.
She said Blow was appointed as the accounting officer for Sunridge Superspar and Despatch Superspar and was given full access and administration rights to the two entities’ trading bank accounts used in the operation of the businesses in order to effectively render services.
“In addition to the fees for which he had invoiced the businesses, he intentionally and unlawfully transferred cash to the value of more than R40 million from Sunridge Superspar and more than R11 million from Despatch Superspar to his bank account, as confirmed by the investigations of Serious Commercial Crime Investigation of the Hawks in Gqeberha,” Mgolodela said.
Blow was arrested on March 24, and has been in custody since his arrest.
He also received a notification from the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA) that he was being struck off the roll.
The matter has been postponed until November 23 for pre-sentencing and psychology reports to be handed to the court.
The investigating team was lauded for their thorough probe into the matter.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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