Roland Williams gets correctional supervision

Disgraced former municipal communications director Roland Williams, who pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud in January, has been sentenced to three years house arrest with correctional supervision.

Magistrate Lionel Lindoor sentenced Williams in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday.

As part of his sentence, Williams has to perform community service of 16 hours per month - consisting of cleaning or gardening - as well as a R30 000 fine payable by July 31.

He must also attend various workshops and is not allowed to consume alcohol or drugs for the duration of his sentence.

Williams further received a four year prison sentence suspended for five years and must pay back R96 000 back to Santam

In January this year Williams, along with co-accused company Mango Moon Trading – trading as V&R Auto and represented by Renika Rungan – pleaded guilty to the charge of insurance fraud against them earlier this year.

The court found that Williams along with Renika’s husband, Raven – who was fatally wounded in a shooting a year later – defrauded Santam Limited through a combined insurance claim worth more than R115 000 in 2014.

In his plea statement Williams detailed how he and Rungan deliberately caused extensive damage to his BMW to put in a claim to defraud Santam after Williams experienced engine problems with his car.

“He [Rungan] further intimated that he could ‘make a plan’ with my vehicle by having it damaged at his premises and I could then lodge a claim with my insurers,” Williams said.

Williams admitted that he owed Rungan R50 000 “as a result of various loans made”.

The two then concocted a plan to damage the BMW and lodge a claim with his insurance company, claiming that he had an accident on the Motherwell-Addo road on August 18 2014.

Williams’s insurance claim stated he had tried to swerve out for a cow in the road and had rolled the car, after which V&R Auto towed it to their premises.

The following month R96 400 was paid into Williams’s bank account and R19 404 was paid to V&R Auto for services rendered.

In January Renika, on behalf of V&R Auto, received a fine of R120 000, wholly suspended for five years.

Part of the conditions of the sentence are that V&R Auto has until February 9 to pay back the R19 404 to Santam and that the company not be convicted of fraud during the suspended sentence period.

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