The appellant, Lesley Nieuwenhuizen, was charged with 31 counts of fraud arising from transactions involving the trust account of an attorney, Mr Dawid Hermanus Jansen van Vuuren. She represented that she was collecting debts from government employees and that government departments would issue cheques to be deposited into the complainant’s trust account, after which she would receive cash. In truth, the cheques were false or never deposited, yet the complainant advanced cash to her in anticipation of payment. She further transferred funds from the complainant’s trust account into her own account, in some instances by misrepresentation and forgery. She was convicted on six counts of fraud (counts 12–17), involving a total amount of R130 429.46, and acquitted on the remaining charges. She was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, two years of which were suspended.