The Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court has sentenced Ralton Christopher Fischer, a former human resources manager at a school catering for pupils with special educational needs, to 12 years’ imprisonment for fraud.
However, the court suspended six years of the sentence for five years on condition that Fischer, 44, is not convicted of fraud or theft during the period of suspension.
Fischer was convicted last year on 11 counts of fraud amounting to more than R6m, committed between July 2018 and April 2022 while employed at New Hope School.
His duties included managing payments to staff members employed by the school governing body (SGB) and not by the Gauteng department of education.
“During this period, Fischer fraudulently made 11 payments into multiple bank accounts registered in his name, including accounts at Absa, Standard Bank, Discovery Bank, Nedbank, Bidvest, FNB and Capitec,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said on Monday.
The fraud came to light when Fischer scanned and sent documents to a colleague, requesting that they be forwarded to his personal email.
“The colleague noticed irregularities and raised the alarm. A preliminary investigation uncovered payments to non-existent (ghost) employees.”
The matter was reported to the police and Fischer was arrested on April 4 2023.
“Fischer pleaded guilty, claiming he used the stolen funds to feed his gambling addiction and purchase a VW Golf GTI valued at R150,000,” Mahanjana said.
Fischer had asked the court to impose a sentence of correctional supervision or a wholly suspended sentence, citing his responsibilities as a father of four minor children, two of whom have disabilities.
“However, advocate Abram Machitela, for the state, argued for a custodial sentence, citing the seriousness of the offence, the abuse of a position of trust and the lack of remorse shown by the accused.”
He said Fischer’s actions directly prejudiced the school and its vulnerable pupils, many of whom used wheelchairs and relied on specialised support.
“The school also suffered tax liabilities exceeding R500,000 due to Fischer’s criminal conduct,” Mahanjana said.
The court agreed with the prosecution, finding that Fischer’s crimes were not merely driven by addiction, but also by selfishness and greed.
“The court noted Fischer’s lack of genuine remorse and that his guilty plea was primarily due to the strength of the state’s case. The magistrate concluded that only a direct term of imprisonment was appropriate under the circumstances.”
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