GEORGE NEWS - A former accountant of a local printing company, Naresha Govender (40), and her husband, Kubendran (46), were sentenced in the George Regional Court on collectively more than 400 counts of theft on Friday 2 December.

The accused entered into a formal plea and sentence agreement with the state whereby both admitted guilt on charges of theft.

The first accused, Naresha, stole a total amount of R3,3m over five years from the company and some of the stolen money was deposited into her husband's bank account, for which he admitted guilt.

Naresha was found guilty on 376 counts of theft and was handed down a 10-year imprisonment, of which three years are suspended for five years on condition that she is not convicted of crimes of fraud and theft during the period of suspension.

She will effectively serve seven years behind bars. Her husband was sentenced to three years correctional supervision after he was found guilty on 29 counts of theft.

In addition, he was handed down five years imprisonment, which was wholly suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted of the crime of theft during the period of suspension.

The case served in front of Magistrate Denise Oberholzer and Hanki Marx represented the state.

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