WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-05-11 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
Eight months after he was arrested and taken into custody, former First National Bank financial adviser Clynton Cotton pleaded guilty this week to fraud and money laundering involving more than R12-million.
Duped FNB clients who entrusted their money to Cotton can rest easy as the bank is reimbursing them.
Cotton, his wife Lisa and secretary Omakanthi “Tammy” Govender were arrested in August 2007. Lisa was released on R100 000 bail and Govender on R5 000.
This week charges against Govender were withdrawn at the Commercial Crimes Court.
| ‘She was sentenced to a fine of R50 000 or three years’ imprisonment’ |
Cotton, 40, remained in custody and went through a lengthy bail application hearing until negotiations between his legal counsel, Jimmy Howse, and the state prosecutor, Ashika Haripersad, reached finality. The state opposed his bail, saying Cotton had fleeced more than 100 investors over eight years.
On Wednesday he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, five of them suspended. In his plea, Cotton said he enjoyed a successful career which led to his being head-hunted by FNB in 1997, but soon after joining the bank he battled to make ends meet.
He was transferred to the Overport branch, but his situation did not improve. He divorced his first wife, then met and married Lisa.
He set up two businesses, Board of Associates (BOA) and later Securities Endowment Training (SET) and, because of his poor credit record, Lisa was the signatory for both. He also opened a bank account in SET’s name and Lisa and her father were signatories.
Cotton said in 2000 he started converting money he received from investors for his own use. He received money from clients and deposited the funds into either the BOA or SET accounts on the understanding that he would invest with a reputable financial institution.
He also admitted instructing Lisa to transfer the funds, more than R12-million, out of the BOA and SET accounts. In July 2007,Cotton said he confessed his wrongdoing to FNB and paid back R160 000.
This week, he agreed to a R600 000 confiscation order. All his movable property is to be seized and liquidated and the proceeds, valued at R300 000, will go back to FNB.
The remaining balance of R300 000, which was the estimated amount of renovations to his home in Umbilo paid for using investors’ funds, would be paid back after his release from prison.
Plea
His plea mentioned that FNB had reimbursed clients who lost their money or was in the process of reimbursing them.
Lisa, 36, also pleaded guilty, but to a charge of helping another gain from the proceeds of criminal activities. She said she first became aware of her husband’s fraudulent activities when he confessed to FNB.
After his arrest she was made aware he had bought certain assets using the proceeds of clients’ investments. Among the assets was a Renault sold for about R198 000.
She said that when he was arrested, Cotton needed funds to pay his first lawyer. She said she told his lawyer about the Renault cheque and he advised them this amount could be used to pay Cotton’s legal fees.
Cotton told her to collect the cheque, which she did and deposited it into her account and then wrote the lawyer a cheque for R190 000 in legal fees. Cotton’s first lawyer later withdrew from the case. Lisa admitted a reasonable person would have known this came from the proceeds of Cotton’s illegal activities and the lawyer was not entitled to it.
She was sentenced to a fine of R50 000 or three years’ imprisonment. A further four years in jail was suspended on condition she paid R50 000 to FNB and was not convicted of the same crime again. She will not spend time in jail as she is the sole care-giver to their two young children, aged 1 and 3.