FREE STATE – The accused Pieter Hendrik Myburg (36) appeared before the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Tuesday, 14 June 2022 where he was convicted and sentenced for fraud and defeating the administration of justice.

On 26 January 2018, the complainant was informed by Myburg regarding the theft of cameras at the premises of Afriforum Bloemfontein. At the time of the incident, the accused was employed at Afriforum Free State as Regional Co-ordinator responsible for managing the Afriforum offices in Bloemfontein.

A preliminary investigation was then conducted by the complainant after he received information that Myburg may be involved in the alleged theft. The outcome of the internal investigation revealed that Myburg was involved in fraudulent activities where he submitted various fraudulent quotations to Afriforum Head Office for payments of purchasing the cameras which were never bought. Some of these cameras that he submitted quotations for, were not reported as stolen. The payment from Afriforum Head Office was used for his personal gain.

The incident took place during the period of January 2016 until January 2018. As a result of the fraudulent activities Afriforum was prejudiced and suffered a total loss of more than R1 million. The matter was reported to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team based in Bloemfontein for further investigation.

Myburg was served with summons on 25 January 2022. He appeared in court on several occasions culminating in his recent conviction.

Source: South African Police Service