Trust betrayal lands bank employee in jail

THE position of trust that a bank employee abused when she stole N$4 000 from her employer and tried to steal a further N$25 000 some four years ago counted heavily against her when she was sentenced in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court last week.

Sylvia Yvonne Christians was employed by Bank Windhoek when the offences were committed in April and June 2001. On Friday, having convicted Christians on two counts of fraud, Magistrate Sarel Jacobs sentenced her to an effective two years’ imprisonment.As he did so, he emphasised a warning that had been issued numerous times before by Namibia’s courts: that people whose employers placed them in positions of trust, and who then abused those positions to steal from the employer, could expect painful punishment from the courts.In such cases where positions of trust were abused for self-enrichment, imprisonment would be all but inevitable.Magistrate Jacobs added an additional word of caution when he sentenced Christians.Noting that she was a sole breadwinner with children aged 17 and 13 to support, he told Christians: “It is however so that where mothers of children go out and commit crimes like men do, they must expect to be treated like the men.”Christians was found guilty of committing fraud by transferring N$4 000 from someone else’s account at Bank Windhoek into her own account on April 25 2001.She was also found guilty on a charge that she had committed fraud on June 14 2001 by transferring N$25 000 from an account at Bank Windhoek’s Sanlam Centre branch into her son’s account.Suspicions were raised when she tried to withdraw N$15 000 from her son’s account, leading to the discovery of both the N$25 000 transfer and the previous transfer of N$4 000.The Magistrate told Christians that he regarded it as aggravating that she had been in a position of trust, and that she abused this position.Not only did the bank trust her, but the bank’s clients, too, were entitled to trust that their money and bank accounts were in safe and responsible hands, he remarked.He sentenced Christians to 12 months’ imprisonment on the first fraud count relating to the April 25 2001 transfer.On the second count, where the bank did not actually lose any money, Christians was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment, of which 18 months were suspended for four years on condition that Christians was not convicted of fraud again during the period of suspension.On Friday, having convicted Christians on two counts of fraud, Magistrate Sarel Jacobs sentenced her to an effective two years’ imprisonment.As he did so, he emphasised a warning that had been issued numerous times before by Namibia’s courts: that people whose employers placed them in positions of trust, and who then abused those positions to steal from the employer, could expect painful punishment from the courts.In such cases where positions of trust were abused for self-enrichment, imprisonment would be all but inevitable.Magistrate Jacobs added an additional word of caution when he sentenced Christians.Noting that she was a sole breadwinner with children aged 17 and 13 to support, he told Christians: “It is however so that where mothers of children go out and commit crimes like men do, they must expect to be treated like the men.”Christians was found guilty of committing fraud by transferring N$4 000 from someone else’s account at Bank Windhoek into her own account on April 25 2001.She was also found guilty on a charge that she had committed fraud on June 14 2001 by transferring N$25 000 from an account at Bank Windhoek’s Sanlam Centre branch into her son’s account.Suspicions were raised when she tried to withdraw N$15 000 from her son’s account, leading to the discovery of both the N$25 000 transfer and the previous transfer of N$4 000.The Magistrate told Christians that he regarded it as aggravating that she had been in a position of trust, and that she abused this position.Not only did the bank trust her, but the bank’s clients, too, were entitled to trust that their money and bank accounts were in safe and responsible hands, he remarked.He sentenced Christians to 12 months’ imprisonment on the first fraud count relating to the April 25 2001 transfer.On the second count, where the bank did not actually lose any money, Christians was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment, of which 18 months were suspended for four years on condition that Christians was not convicted of fraud again during the period of suspension.