Man defrauds Santam while in prison for defrauding Mutual and Federal

The Oudtshoorn Regional Court has sentenced a married couple to prison following their conviction on 22 counts of fraud and money laundering after they defrauded Santam.

Ricardo Bowkers carried out the fraud from his prison cell at Oudtshoorn Correctional Centre, where he was serving time for defrauding Mutual and Federal, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement on Friday.

Bowkers took out an insurance policy with Santam. His wife, Desiree, opened two bank accounts in their minor sons’ names and passed on the details of the accounts to her imprisoned husband, the NPA said.

Ricardo was serving 12 years for defrauding Mutual and Federal in 2016.

Desiree smuggled a cellphone and SIM cards to him.

In a move that adds new meaning to the term “cellphone”, Ricardo used the phone to lodge the claims from his prison cell. He used different phone numbers and aliases when making the claims.

Santam believed the claims were genuine and deposited the money into the accounts.

The prosecutor, Hyron Goulding, told the court that Ricardo lodged claims for lost cellphones, a laptop, and video cameras. He ensured that the claims did not exceed R10 000 because Santam would have sent out an assessor if they had been more.

Goulding said Ricardo had previous convictions that ran for 14 years between 2002 and 2016 and included theft, fraud, robbery, and assault. After Ricardo’s last conviction in 2016, the court warned him that, in terms of section 286 of the Criminal Procedure Act, he would be declared a habitual criminal if he continued to commit offences involving dishonesty.

The NPA said the Bowkers’ crimes were well planned and executed over 12 months.

The couple was convicted on 15 March and sentenced on 10 April.

Ricardo was convicted on 13 counts of fraud and 9 counts of money laundering. He was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment for the 13 counts of fraud and to 10 years’ imprisonment for the 9 counts of money laundering. The two sentences will not run concurrently, effectively bringing his sentence to 26 years.

The court ordered Ricardo to serve two-thirds of his sentence before he can be considered for parole. It declared him unfit to possess a firearm.

Desiree was convicted on nine counts of fraud and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. She was convicted on eight counts of money laundering and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently, effectively sentencing her to seven years’ imprisonment. It also ordered her unfit to possess a firearm.

Desiree was also her husband’s co-accused in the Mutual and Federal case. The charges against her were withdrawn, but she voluntarily assisted Ricardo in committing fraud against Santam, the NPA said.

In an affidavit, State witness Stephanus van der Merwe, project manager of the Insurance Crime Bureau, said R55 billion in short-term insurance claims are made in South Africa annually. About 15% of these claims contain an element of fraud, which equates to a loss of R8.25bn.

The Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Nicolette Bell, lauded the investigating and prosecuting teams for their tenacity in ensuring that the case was finalised despite the challenges, which included Ricardo changing legal representatives before and during the trial, the Covid-19 pandemic, loadshedding, witnesses travelling from outside the province, and Ricardo refusing to co-operate at times.