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Cape Town - A sentence of 15 years' imprisonment should be imposed on a former bank official found guilty of fraud involving nearly R2m, the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court heard on Wednesday.
Kateryna Karpovska, who was Ukrainian Joint-Stock Commercial Bank Imexbank's (JSCB Imexbank) chief representative officer (CRO) with the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb), would be sentenced on June 5.
Prosecutor Derek Vogel recommended the sentence, which is the prescribed minimum for fraud involving more than R500 000.
Karpovska has been convicted of four counts of fraud, five of contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, and one of violating the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Service Act.
She was to have been sentenced on Wednesday, but magistrate Amrith Chabillal said he needed time to consider the sentencing arguments made by Vogel and defence attorney Pieter du Toit.
Karpovska's main function with the Imexbank was to establish a representative office in South Africa, but she was not permitted to carry on any business for Imexbank.
According to the charge sheet, the bank closed its South African representative office in March 2008, but Karpovska failed to inform the SARB and fraudulently continued in her former role.
On one fraud charge, she falsely informed a client that she was not only Imexbank’s CRO, but also its chief wealth manager.
As such, she illegally acted as the client’s financial consultant, and persuaded them to make four fictitious investments with Imexbank.
In July, the client asked to withdraw about R4.4m from the investments.
Knowing the investments were non-existent and that the money had been channelled into her own account, Karpovska promised that the money would be transferred, but it was not.
A similar false investment was made for a second client, involving about R425 620.
On a third fraud charge, she received R250 000 for investment with Imexbank, which she kept for herself.
On the fifth fraud charge, she falsely informed Ukrainian friends that her son had been kidnapped, and that a ransom of $2m had been demanded.
She told them she was about R1.4m short of the ransom, and duped them into paying about R1.2m into her account.
Vogel said much of the money had been repaid, but the frauds nevertheless involved in excess of R500,000.
Du Toit requested a suspended prison sentence.
