Staff Reporter
The Free State High Court has sentenced a 37-year-old farmer to a total of 427 years imprisonment after he was convicted on 20 counts of theft and six counts of fraud.
The court, which was sitting in Kroonstad, however ruled that some of the sentences will run concurrently, meaning Cornelius Andries Loggenberg will effectively serve 25 years in prison.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said in a statement evidence presented in court indicated that Loggenberg ran Kirkdale Farm in Koppies.
Some of his farming activities included the maintenance of a herd of dairy cattle.
When Loggenberg decided to expand his dairy project, he leased 2 136 Holstein cattle, to the value of R25 million, from various farmers between 2009 and 2013.
The condition of the contract, the court heard, specified that the ownership of the cattle would remain vested in the farmers or lessors and that in the event of death or expropriation of cattle, the accused would substitute the cattle with cattle of similar stature, breed and age at his expense.
Upon termination of the lease period, the accused was to return cattle of similar type and quality to those hired at the start of the agreements.
“At first, Loggenberg honoured the terms of the lease contracts and made the required payments of the lease to the complainants,” Shuping said.
“However, in June 2013 the accused failed to make any payments to any of the complainants. It was discovered that he had sold most of the cattle and utilised the proceeds for his personal expenses,” he added.
An investigation revealed that the proceeds of the sale of the cattle were paid into a specific bank account of the accused and subsequently transferred to various accounts belonging to the accused.
Some of the complainants invested large amounts of money agreeing that the accused could utilise it to buy Holstein cattle on behalf of the complainants and then lease the said cattle from the complainants.
The accused did not buy any cattle with the money but he utilised it for his own expenses.
Arguing in aggravation of sentence, the state prosecutor, Advocate Jacques Harrington, stated that the accused skilfully convinced the complainants that their herds were thriving under his care whereas he was utilising their cattle for his benefit.
“The accused sold and misappropriated the cattle to such an extent that the business collapsed and the complainants suffered severe losses,” Harrington told court.
“He ran into enormous debt to buy feed for the cattle and when the situation worsened, he lured more farmers into his business.
“This was just a ‘get-rich-quick scheme’ where he duped seasoned farmers who ended up being the victims of theft and fraud.”
The judge sentenced Loggenberg to an effective 25 years imprisonment of which 10 were suspended for five years on condition he is not convicted of theft or fraud during the period of suspension.
He was also declared unfit to serve as a director, member, partner or manager of any financial institution until a court, on application by the accused, ruled otherwise.
CATTLE FRAUDSTER . . . A man who duped seasoned farmers has been sentenced to 427 years in jail on 20 counts of theft and six counts of fraud