A South African woman was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Friday for stealing $28 million (£23 million) from her employer.
Over a 13-year period, Hildegard Steenkamp embezzled money from the healthcare organization where she was employed as an accountant in the province of Gauteng. Previously, Steenkamp entered a guilty plea to 336 counts of fraud.
She was brought before a magistrate, who stated that he had never handled a case involving an individual stealing so much money.
"To comprehend that one employee stole so much money from her employer is mind-boggling" magistrate Phillip Venter said, expressing his disbelief.
Steenkamp claimed in her defense that she was compelled to steal the money by her violent late spouse. "She perpetrated the actions alone," Mr. Venter claimed in contention.
It was discovered by forensic investigators that Steenkamp used the money to finance her opulent lifestyle, which included travel, jewelry purchases, and gambling.
She once went on a $263,000 spending binge at a casino in a single night. The court was also informed that Steenkamp traveled abroad frequently and spent close to $1.6 million on vacations.
She was employed by the company from 2004 until her resignation in 2017. The South
African authorities claim that Steenkamp came up with this scheme because she was granted permission to add or remove debtors from the business's database.
She began making deposits into her husband's account and added him as a creditor.
In 2018, Steenkamp turned herself in to the police and was given bail. Eventually, earlier this year, she entered a guilty plea.
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