Hildegard Steenkamp, a former accountant at a healthcare company in Gauteng province, South Africa, has been handed a 50-year prison sentence for embezzling twenty-eight million dollars over a 13-year period.
The sentence was delivered by Magistrate Phillip Venter, who expressed astonishment at the unprecedented scale of the theft.
Steenkamp, who had previously pleaded guilty to three hundred and thirty-six counts of fraud, claimed her late abusive husband coerced her into the embezzlement.
However, Magistrate Venter dismissed this defense, asserting that she acted alone in perpetrating the extensive financial fraud.
Forensic investigators uncovered that Steenkamp utilized the stolen funds to finance a lavish lifestyle, including extravagant gambling ventures, high-end jewelry acquisitions, and frequent international travel.
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