A former employee of Windhoek International School is blaming a gambling addiction for fraud involving about N$1.9 million that she committed against the school.
“I was suffering from various long-standing diagnosed mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar depression and anxiety and I then became addicted to online gambling,” Maria Coetzee (53) stated in a plea explanation given to acting judge Makapa Simasiku in the High Court at Windhoek Correctional Facility yesterday.
Coetzee gave the explanation after telling the judge she was admitting guilt on eight counts of fraud and five charges of attempted theft.
Coetzee admitted that during the period of March to October 2018, when she was employed as the financial manager of Windhoek International School, she defrauded the school on eight occasions by transferring money from the school’s bank account to two bank accounts of her own. With those eight transactions, a total amount of about N$1.9 million was transferred to her accounts.
She also admitted that in May 2018 she tried to steal about N$77 300 from the school.
After preparing to have the money transferred electronically to her own bank account, however, she felt guilt-ridden and approached the school’s principal to ask him not to release the payments she had prepared, Coetzee said in a written plea explanation.
She stated: “This was one of the many incidents that I struggled with my conscience, feelings of guilt and remorse as I knew at the time that I was not honest, sincere and trustworthy.”
In her plea explanation, Coetzee said she was suffering from mental illnesses and was also physically ill when she committed the fraud and attempted theft.
Her mental illnesses led her to self-isolate, she said.
“The self-isolation prompted my bipolar depression further and I started gambling online, seeking to replace my feelings such as loneliness, rejection, isolation [and] hopelessness with a feeling of euphoria,” she related.
Coetzee added: “I tried to stop my gambling addiction, but instead it continued to spiral out of control as with each loss of money gambled, I was hoping to recoup the lost money with new winnings.”
Most of the money she got hold of by defrauding the school was lost in gambling. Coetzee also recounted: “I personally gambled and lost the majority of the money that was transferred into my personal bank accounts.”
After being confronted by the school’s management in October 2018, she admitted she had money transferred from the school’s account to two of her own bank accounts, Coetzee said.
She felt relief when she was arrested, as that put an end to her gambling addiction, she said as well.
After hearing Coetzee’s plea explanation and questioning her about the information she gave about her mental health, Simasiku said he was recording pleas of not guilty on all of the charges she is facing, as she raised a valid defence in law to the charges.
Coetzee is charged with 18 counts of fraud, 12 alternative counts of theft, six alternative counts of attempted theft, and one count of money laundering.
The state is alleging that Coetzee defrauded Windhoek International School from March to October 2018 by trying to transfer a total amount of about N$3.38 million from the school’s bank account to her own accounts.
After six of the transactions she tried ended up being declined, she successfully transferred N$2.8 million to her accounts, the state is alleging.
Coetzee was free on bail in an amount of N$10 000 when she failed to appear in the Windhoek High Court for a pretrial hearing in May 2020.
The court was subsequently informed that she had fled to South Africa.
She was arrested in South Africa in 2023, and in March last year a court in Cape Town ruled that she could be extradited to Namibia to stand trial.
Coetzee has been held in custody since her arrival back in Namibia near the end of August last year.
She is being represented by defence lawyer Janita von Wielligh.
Deputy prosecutor general Tangeni Iitula is representing the state.
In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.
The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.
Stay informed with The Namibian – your source for credible journalism. Get in-depth reporting and opinions for
only N$85 a month. Invest in journalism, invest in democracy –
Subscribe Now!
