Betrayed by my gambling stepmom
Kirstie Voogt is trying to pick up the pieces of her life after her stepmom stole more than R11 million from her employer & gambled it away
STANDING in the dock of the East London court, she felt betrayed and broken-hearted. She knew she was innocent but here she was, accused of complicity in a fraud case involving millions of rands. And it was all because of the woman she regarded as more of a “big sister” than her stepmother, a mentor – someone she believed would always be on her side.
But Retha Voogt (47) had used Kirstie Leigh Voogt (27) as a pawn in her scheme, using the younger woman’s bank account to channel some of the R11 million she stole from the Road Accident Fund.
Kirstie is picking up the pieces of her life after fraud charges against her were dismissed – but the scars run deep.
Retha had been an important figure in her life, Kirstie tells us via video call from her East London flat.
Kirstie’s parents divorced when she was two years old and five years later her dad, Alec (51), married Retha. Retha acted as the mediator as Kirstie and Alec tried to build a relationship and even helped Kirstie pay for her studies and helped her land her first job.
Kirstie, who’s a senior auditor, worked at Moore Stephens PDB (now Moore East London), a firm that helps beneficiaries of the Road Accident Fund manage their trust funds.
But everything fell apart when it emerged Retha was living a double life as a gambler and fraudster and had dragged Kirstie into the mess.
Retha was charged with embezzling
RR11,5 million in trust funds over a period of five years which she blew in a casino.
Initially Kirstie was also charged, along with her half-sister, Seanna (21), her dad Alec, Alec’s sister, Bernie van Eeden, and Retha’s mother, Theresa Coetzee.
Fraud charges against these family members were eventually dropped and last month Retha was sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
“It blows my mind how she did it,” Kirstie says. “I thought she just enjoyed gambling.”
ETHA has been part of her life for as long as she can remember, Kirstie says.
When she was 10, Kirstie moved to Humansdorp with her mom. The town is 360km from East London and it was hard for
Kirstie to have a relationship with her father.
But her stepmom mediated between the girl and her dad and after she finished high school Kirstie moved back to East London to live with her grandparents.
Alec was a musician who performed in pubs, restaurants and at corporate functions. “Our whole family have always been passionate about music,” Kirstie says.
Retha was the right-hand of Johan Pretorius, a partner at Moore Stephens PDB, and helped Kirstie get a part-time job in the firm.
“Retha was always first in the office,” she recalls. “[ Johan] trusted her with everything. She and I didn’t work side by side but she was the go-to person for any employee who needed anything.”
Kirstie says though she’d saved up money for her studies, Retha helped a little. She also helped Alec, to whom she’d give daily spending money.
“We all knew he was very bad with money. Retha was the breadwinner. But then she started asking to borrow money – not often at first, but over the years it became a regular thing and the amounts also increased.
“I knew she gambled but at no point did I believe I was feeding an addiction.”
She recalls a time when Alec and Retha lived extravagantly. “Retha had fancy high-heel shoes and expensive makeup and one time she had her teeth done,” Kirstie recalls.
Retha also bought Alec a brand-new guitar and they had the house renovated.
Later Kirstie would discover that Retha was a VIP at Hemingway’s Casino. She spent hours there at night, sitting at her favourite slot machine in a haze of cigarette smoke, drinking coffee or hot chocolate. Alec worked mostly at night.
“By early 2018 I’d had enough of her borrowing money. I was becoming concerned but I didn’t feel it was my place to say anything. I mean, Alec knew she was at the casino and sometimes they’d go there together.”
One day, Retha approached Kirstie to ask if she could transfer funds she had in investment company PSG into Kirstie’s bank account.
She claimed the money was going to be paid out but she didn’t want Alec, who had her bank card that day, to have access to the money.
She explained the money was from her “gambling winnings”.
“I didn’t think twice about it because in the past the casino had given her several loyalty gifts,” Kirstie says. “She once even won a car.”
Kirstie says their firm often used PSG because they had a branch in the same building. She agreed to Retha’s request – she knew her dad couldn’t handle money and she thought it was a one-off event.
She was wrong. Large sums of money would often end up in her account and Kirstie would pay it back to Retha immediately.
But when it happened one too many times, she confronted Retha. Her stepmom said the PSG consultant hadn’t corrected the account number after the first deposit, when the “investment” paid out.
Kirstie said it couldn’t happen again. She also refused to lend Retha any more money.
“I think Retha knew I couldn’t easily say no to her. But after I refused, our relationship soured.”
THEN at the end of 2018 all was revealed. Kirstie recalls being called into the office on 7 December. The firm’s directors told her Retha had emptied the RAF accounts, of which Johan Pretorius was the curator. And Kirstie would also be charged because the funds had been channelled through her bank account.
“At first it didn’t sink in. And when they said my account had been used, I was gobsmacked.”
Kirstie fully cooperated with the police and investigation and the company helped her get a lawyer. But in December 2019, members of the police’s organised crime unit ordered her to report to the Cambridge police station. Fingerprints and mugshots were taken, and she was arrested.
Kirstie and the other family members appeared in court on 3 December 2019. Retha and Alec were released on bail of R10 000 each, the rest were released on a warning.
Kirstie made several court appearances before the charges against her were finally withdrawn on 4 September 2020.
Two months later, Retha pleaded guilty to all 52 charges and took sole responsibility. The charges against Alec and the rest of the family were withdrawn.
When Retha was sentenced last month, Alec was there to comfort her.
To this day, Retha hasn’t shown an iota of remorse, says Kirstie, who’s now trying to rebuild her life and put everything behind her.
“I’m trying to find peace with the fact that I never got an apology from Retha or anyone else,” she says.
“And maybe my acceptance is a form of forgiveness.”