Conwoman gets 15 years for selling 'nonexistent imported cars'

A North West woman who defrauded her victims of R3.7m after tricking them into believing she was a businesswoman importing luxury vehicles from the US at a cheap price, has been slapped with a 15-year prison sentence.

Some of Natchy Britz's victims later found out that she was a conwoman when they couldn't receive their luxury vehicles as promised; they then demanded their money back and laid charges against her.

The 29-year-old woman managed to pay some of them back, and they dropped the charges. However, she failed to return two clients' money to the value of R3.7m.

She was arrested, tried at the Brits magistrate's court and convicted on two counts of fraud.

North West Hawks spokesperson Lt-Col Tinyiko Mathebula said Britz was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on each count but that the court  ordered that the sentences run concurrently.

"Consequently, the accused will effectively serve a 15-year jail term," said Mathebula.

According to Mathebula, between 2016 and 2018, Britz hoodwinked her victims into believing she was a legitimate businesswoman who imported luxury vehicles from the US at a reasonable price.

She also showed them pictures of the said vehicles.

"The victims showed interest in some of the vehicles that Britz presented to them. One victim paid Britz over R2.9-million to import a Ford Mustang and a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Another victim, who entered into a business partnership with her, paid over R800,000 to import luxury vehicles such as Lamborghini, Mercedes Benz and BMW," said  Mathebula.

"The vehicles were going to be imported over a period of time, so the R800,000 was for the first shipment as per their agreement."

However, investigations later revealed that Britz had created different email accounts from which she would communicate with the victims, giving them progress reports about the importation of the vehicles.

After failing to fulfill her promise, some of her victims confronted her, demanding their monies back.

"Britz only managed to pay back some complainants who have since dropped the charges against her. She, however, failed to pay back two victims, whom she still owes R2.9-million and R800,000," Mathebula said.

He said the Hawks conducted investigations which led to Britz's arrest and subsequent conviction.

North West Hawks acting head Brig Silas Munzhedzi and the director of public prosecutions in the province, Dr Rachel Makhari, welcomed the sentencing and lauded the investigation and prosecution teams for securing a successful conviction.

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