A 53-year-old man has been sentenced to an eight-year jail term for 11 counts of fraud amounting to R108 million.
Gerrit Crowther was sentenced by the East-London Regional Court for impersonating an Eskom and Buffalo City employee claiming to install devices that would reduce electricity consumption.
He was arrested by the Hawks in June 2018 in the Western Cape.
Provincial Hawks spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani says Crowther never installed the devices.
“He marketed and sold his services to businesses in the Buffalo City area for an amount ranging from R3000 to R6000. However, in reality, Crowther did not install the devices but rather tampered with electricity meters. The municipality lost approximately R180 million as a result of this crime. The Buffalo City reported the case to the Hawks as it noticed that the electricity bills of various businesses had dropped,” says Ngcakani.
Buffalo City Metro Spokeperson Samkelo Ngwenya welcomed the sentence, “We are hoping that this lengthy jail sentence is going to send a very strong signal to anyone who is still involved with this type of business out there that their days are numbered. We, as the city, have been engaging in a series of discussions with both the business community, as well as our people not to fall into this trap of people who come under the false pretense that they can reduce their electricity consumption. Secondly, we have been rolling out a smart metering system in response to these fraudulent activities.”
