A CHATSWORTH businesswoman, driven by “greed”, thought little of presenting and concluding on a falsified bargain deal for a house worth R900 000 with her cousin, when in reality she didn’t have the authority to do so.
She pocketed the R720 000 cash that her relative paid and gave her the run-around afterwards.
Through fraudulent means, Vaneshree Nadar, 51, received R720 000 for a house in Westcliff, Chatsworth from her cousin, which was paid into a fictitious bank account that was set-up with help from Nadar’s employee (Vinotha Naraidoo).
The money Nadar received was her cousin’s life-savings.
She was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment at the Durban Regional Court last week, after she entered into a Section 112 (2) plea and sentence agreement, in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Act, with the State.
Prosecutor Surekha Marimuthu represented the State in a matter that Magistrate Sophie Reddy presided over.
Nadar was charged with fraud and a count of acquisition, possession or use of proceeds from unlawful sale, which transpired between November 2022 and March 2023.
In October 2024, Naraidoo, in a matter also prosecuted by Marimuthu, pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and a contravention of an aspect of the Prevention of the Organised Crime Act (POCA).
Naraidoo admitted to acting under Nadar’s instruction, and opened a bank account in the name of a reputable Chatsworth conveyancing firm and received R600 in cash for the effort.
Opening a bank account under the guise of being a law firm was part of Nadar’s plan to convince her cousin that the sale was authentic.
For her role Naraidoo received a five year prison sentence, wholly suspended for five years, provided she didn’t repeat the offence during the period of suspension.
And she committed to paying a R600 fine in lieu of a confiscation order, granted according to the POCA, as she derived a benefit from the proceeds of a crime.
Nadar was arrested in May 2023 and was denied bail because she was on trial for other matters where she used the similar modus operandi.
The Westcliff home that was up for sale was being handled by a legitimate estate agent, the owner of the house in question was an old school friend of Nadar.
She convinced the owner to let her show the property to someone (her cousin) who was house-hunting.
The cousin was impressed after the walkabout around the property but accepted that the asking price over R900 000 was beyond her reach.
By pretending to be the designated estate agent, Nadar assured her cousin that the house would be sold to her for R720 000.
At the time, the seller was in financial trouble and sought assistance from Nadar to acquire a loan as it was one of the services she offered.
Nadar used the seller's personal information, which he submitted to acquire a loan from her, to create a fictitious purchase and sale agreement for the Westcliff property, and also forged his signature.
She also used the name of the known Chatsworth conveyancer as the attorney who was handling the sale.
Her cousin, who was convinced she was entering into a legitimate agreement to purchase the property, penned her signature to the relevant documents and deposited the R720 000 into the bogus bank account, created by Naraidoo.
Nadar had complete control of the hoax bank account and effected various transfers of money out of the account.
Her cousin waited in vain to take occupancy of the property and Nadar strung her along by saying the transfer was delayed.
The frustrated relative eventually visited the property and spoke to the owner’s wife. That’s when she learnt that she had been duped.
The cousin then approached the law firm about the money she supposedly deposited into their bank account in lieu of the property, only to be told that it was a fictitious account.
The attorney called a meeting with Nadar, where she admitted that the sale was a hoax and promised to pay back the money but that did not materialise.
Marimuthu told the court that Nadar’s deeds were “calculated” and greed was the driver for her crimes that resulted in the complainant losing her life’s savings.
The prosecutor also told the court that Naraidoo was the “mule” who was used to open the fictitious bank account.
In handing the sentence, Reddy said she considered Nadar’s age, she was a first time offender, who was remorseful and pleaded guilty.
DAILY NEWS