By OBAKEG MAJE
A former employee at Omnia Group, Baart van Vuuren (52) is expected to appear in the Bloemhof Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for fraud and theft. Van Vuuren was employed by Omnia Group to sell fertiliser on behalf of the company to farmers in the Bloemhof area.
The North West police spokesperson, Col Adele Myburgh said, the reports suggest that, between 2021 and 2022, van Vuuren stole fertiliser from the company and sold it to his friends and customers, who were not in the company’s database. Myburgh further said the accused then pocketed the money to the tune of R20 million.
“It was only discovered after an audit that the company suffered a loss of R20 million due to the conduct of the accused. As a result, he was arrested and charged with 108 counts of fraud and theft.
“However, van Vuuren became a fugitive after he missed his court date and allegedly fled to the United States of America (USA). The Bloemhof Magistrate’s Court issued a warrant of arrest arrested against him,” she said.
Myburgh added that the long arm of the law caught up with van Vuuren on 29 November 2023 at the Namibian border post, where he was arrested. She said the accused was taken to Bloemhof and briefly appeared before the Bloemhof Magistrate’s Court on 1 December 2023, where he was remanded in custody.
The Guardian 