A South African man has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for stealing his employer's 14 million rand ($732,400).
Harold Henry stole the funds from Suenay and Digby White, who had employed him at their Strathmore Farm Trust in Eastern Cape.
Magistrate Lionel Lindoor found the suspect guilty of theft, including stealing insurance funds paid out to 59-year-old Digby for cancer treatment.
The theft, which the court described as systematic, lasted two years. An auditor discovered the suspicious withdrawals in December 2021.
Gambling addiction
According to Lindoor, 47-year-old Henry "bit the hand that fed him."
"Prisons are not only reserved for criminals who commit violent crimes. You are one of those persons that should be removed from society," the magistrate said on Wednesday.
During pre-sentencing, the court was told that the suspect had been diagnosed with a gambling addiction.
"A pathological gambling addiction does not immunise an offender from direct imprisonment," Lindoor said.
Suenay, 39, said that the suspect's actions "left us with nothing and we won't be able to recoup anything."
"We have to start from scratch. We trusted him," she said.
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