A manager from Heidedal and a bookkeeper from Nelspruit were jailed to a combined 15 years on 44 counts of theft and fraud on Friday, the Hawks said in a statement on Sunday.

The Bloemfontein Regional Court found Joubert Isak Jansen (53) guilty on 17 counts of fraud and sentenced him to 12 years' imprisonment, suspended for five years after he presented 20 invoices from a bogus company, Joes Services, and stole almost R872 000 from his employer.

"Jansen worked for ABE Construction Chemicals (Pty) Ltd as a warehouse manager between 2011 and 2013.

"Investigations by the Hawks' Bloemfontein Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in 2016 onwards, revealed that the said company was not registered and had no capacity to service ABE Construction," spokesperson Captain Dineo Sekgotodi said in a statement on Sunday.

Forced to open accounts

Investigations also found that Joes Services' bank account belonged to employees of ABE Construction who alleged that Jansen forced them to open the accounts to withdraw the deposits made to him.

"The amounts were paid to him without any personal gain from their part. Furthermore it was discovered that he rented a vehicle for his own personal gain on the account of ABE Construction for a total amount of R59 000," Sekgotodi explained.

Meanwhile Louisa Lubbie (50) from Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, was convicted and sentenced on 27 counts of theft on Friday after she embezzled R144 000 from her employer.

The bookkeeper in the course of 2016 was responsible for receiving and banking the monies of FFA Mechanical Services but instead fraudulently made the payments to herself.

"She fraudulently made the payments to her personal bank account, and in the process manipulated the company's books to hide the unlawful activities," Sekgotodi added.

The case reported to the Nelspruit Serious Commercial Investigation team, following thorough investigation, Lubbie was sentenced to three years' imprisonment or a fine of R70 000 as imposed by the Nelspruit Regional Court.

KEEP UPDATED on the latest news by subscribing to our FREE newsletter.

- FOLLOW News24 on Twitter