Naaym Hardien (45) appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Serious Commercial Crimes Court for sentencing on charges of fraud and corruption.

Hardien was on Monday, 20 September 2021, found guilty on both charges following a plea and sentence agreement in terms of Section 105A of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 as amended.

He was subsequently sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for fraud and another 15 years imprisonment for corruption, of which 7 years was suspended on both sentences for a period of 5 years on condition that the accused is not found guilty of a similar offences.

Hardien was arrested on the 6 November 2020 by the Head office based Serious Corruption Investigation team. His arrest was preceded by the allegations of colluding with a private entity and processing of fraudulent invoices for stock (plastic shrink wraps) that were neither delivered nor received by Sedibeng Breweries.

The Hawks Serious Corruption Investigation established that the Sedibeng Breweries suffered an actual loss amounting to R81, 568,900 and a potential loss of R16 million. The Hawks probe further revealed that the accused person received a gratification from the company owner amounting to R885, 870 as a reward for assisting in the commission of a crime.

More arrests are expected following the finalised case against the accused who played a central role in the commission of crime.

Source: South African Police Service