A former branch manager at a firm specialising in kitchens made his fifth court appearance on fraud and money laundering charges.
|||Cape Town - A former branch manager at a firm specialising in kitchens made his fifth appearance in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Wednesday.
Michael Jason du Plessis, 35, of Kommetjie in Cape Town's southern suburbs, faces multiple charges of fraud and one of money laundering.
Prosecutor Jacques Smith alleges he duped Conti Kitchens' customers into paying deposits into his own bank account for work to be done by the firm.
Du Plessis was the Cape Town branch manager from February 2001, and allegedly defrauded his employer of R1.3 million between March 2011 and November 2012. According to the charge sheet, Conti Kitchens is owned by the couple Steven and Julia Pollard.
One of Du Plessis's duties as branch manager was to provide customers with written quotations for work to be done at their homes. He allegedly duped customers into paying the required deposits into his own account at Capitec, instead of into the firm's account at FNB.
Smith told magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg that defence attorney Chris Nel had made representations to Malini Govender, head of the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, for the withdrawal the charges.
Smith said Du Plessis initially faced 107 counts of fraud, but that it had been decided to drop two.
Nel said he needed time to study the details furnished by the State. He needed to decide whether to go to trial on the remaining charges, or to make further representations, this time to higher authority.
Du Plessis, who is out on R1000 bail, was warned to appear again on January 23 next year.
Sapa