The Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court convicted and sentenced a suspect for fraud and money laundering.
The 40-year-old Amanda Edgar laundered money estimated to be approximately R4.5 million through property sale.
Between October 2015 and September 2016, a victim was in the process of purchasing a property in Croatia when they were scammed.
SUSPECT CONVICTED OF MONEY LAUNDERING
The victim recalls meeting up with the suspect, assuming they were the owner of the property they wanted to purchase.
They agreed the property would be sold at €850 000 (approximately R17.3 million), with the first payment of €300 000 (R6.1 million) being made immediately.
The rest of the balance would be payable within two years as stipulated in the contract.
Soon after the meeting, the victim received an email instructing them to pay over R4.5 million.
“The complainant received the contract via email stipulating the amount that was agreed upon and an FNB bank account that the complainant must make payment of over R4.5 million into and the payment was made on the same day,” read the SAPS statement.
FRAUD AND SCAM OF R4.5 MILLION
The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), contacted the victim and alerted him about a fraudulent transaction in his account.
However, the victim brushed off the FIC’s warning and said he was indeed expecting the transaction for a property they were purchasing.
The intelligence team then reported the matter to Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation for further investigation.
It was then revealed that the victim had been scammed.
The bank account into which they had paid the R4.5 million belonged to Peak Global, a company owned by Edgar.
Upon receiving the money, Edgar transferred it to various business and personal bank accounts.
ARREST AND CONVICTION
Edgar was arrested at Delft Police Station in October 2023 and was later released on bail.
In September 2025, she was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, with 5 years suspended.
Have you ever been scammed or been a victim of money laundering before?
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