The family of a disgraced businessman found guilty on 779 counts of fraud amounting to R70.6-million yesterday wept silently in court as he was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment.
Until yesterday Henry Louis Fourie Schreuder, 54, the ex-financial director of Floorworx Africa, was a free man. Then came these words by magistrate Twanet Olivier: “Mr Schreuder without further delay I have considered the facts placed before court, I have considered the mitigating factors placed on record, your attorney and Dr Botha , as well as reports, the address by your family, the address by the state and today I cannot find myself saying that there is any other sentence except one of direct imprisonment.
“After a thorough consideration of the facts on this case, and in terms of purpose of sentence, all 779 counts are treated as one and you are sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment.”
The words came as a shock to Schreuder’s wife Karen and his son Henry Jnr, who broke down and wept after the magistrate’s sentence.
They left the courtroom as Schreuder was taken down into custody. The family had earlier enjoyed lunch together during a court break. Karen jumped into her white Polo Vivo and Henry Jnr a black Mitsubishi.
The vehicles are now the subject of a confiscation order by the Asset Forfeiture Unit as part of R9.9-million they are trying to recover.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch outside the East London Magistrate’s Court shortly after the sentencing, Schreuder’s attorney Neil Ristow said: “Obviously the family is upset. It is a shock to everybody but we respect the magistrate’s decision and the sentence she has handed down.
“And of course once emotions have settled we will regroup and take instructions on a way forward and decide what we are going to do.”
Ristow, in his closing argument, had pleaded with the court to find a lenient sentence for Schreuder saying he had shown remorse. “He has lost everything and he has said he is sorry – what more could he have done? The objective of sentencing is not to satisfy public opinion but to serve the public interest,” Ristow told the court.
Schreuder had gambling and alcohol disorders that could best be treated outside prison, he added.
But prosecuting advocate TC Goosen argued that the main aim of jail was punishment, not healing.
He wanted a 22-year sentence, saying it would send a strong message to employees contemplating defrauding their employers. Schreuder only apologised because he was caught, Goosen added. “He was caught while trying to steal more.”
He said the court would never know why Schreuder had stolen from the hand that fed him as he did not take to the witness stand.
“The large amount involved, the long period in which the offences were committed and the impact his betrayal had on the employers one of the most serious cases of fraud in the country,” Goosen said. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
18 years jail for fraud
Until yesterday Henry Louis Fourie Schreuder, 54, the ex-financial director of Floorworx Africa, was a free man. Then came these words by magistrate Twanet Olivier: “Mr Schreuder without further delay I have considered the facts placed before court, I have considered the mitigating factors placed on record, your attorney and Dr Botha , as well as reports, the address by your family, the address by the state and today I cannot find myself saying that there is any other sentence except one of direct imprisonment.
“After a thorough consideration of the facts on this case, and in terms of purpose of sentence, all 779 counts are treated as one and you are sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment.”
The words came as a shock to Schreuder’s wife Karen and his son Henry Jnr, who broke down and wept after the magistrate’s sentence.
They left the courtroom as Schreuder was taken down into custody. The family had earlier enjoyed lunch together during a court break. Karen jumped into her white Polo Vivo and Henry Jnr a black Mitsubishi.
The vehicles are now the subject of a confiscation order by the Asset Forfeiture Unit as part of R9.9-million they are trying to recover.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch outside the East London Magistrate’s Court shortly after the sentencing, Schreuder’s attorney Neil Ristow said: “Obviously the family is upset. It is a shock to everybody but we respect the magistrate’s decision and the sentence she has handed down.
“And of course once emotions have settled we will regroup and take instructions on a way forward and decide what we are going to do.”
Ristow, in his closing argument, had pleaded with the court to find a lenient sentence for Schreuder saying he had shown remorse. “He has lost everything and he has said he is sorry – what more could he have done? The objective of sentencing is not to satisfy public opinion but to serve the public interest,” Ristow told the court.
Schreuder had gambling and alcohol disorders that could best be treated outside prison, he added.
But prosecuting advocate TC Goosen argued that the main aim of jail was punishment, not healing.
He wanted a 22-year sentence, saying it would send a strong message to employees contemplating defrauding their employers. Schreuder only apologised because he was caught, Goosen added. “He was caught while trying to steal more.”
He said the court would never know why Schreuder had stolen from the hand that fed him as he did not take to the witness stand.
“The large amount involved, the long period in which the offences were committed and the impact his betrayal had on the employers one of the most serious cases of fraud in the country,” Goosen said. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
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