‘Dodgy’ dealings go back 10 years, says firm

FRAUD accused Henry Louis Fourie Schreuder is alleged to have gone to a lot of trouble to embezzle funds from his employer by creating imaginary suppliers and fictitious invoices.

In an affidavit before court, Christopher Povall – a Floorworx director – said Schreuder was a senior member of staff who abused his position of trust.

The company became suspicious when an unknown firm became a big supplier.

On December 8 the company secretary, also the internal auditor, spotted and flagged a supplier called HLS – which happen to be Schreuder’s initials.

A Google search on HLS was not consistent with the information in Floorworx’s system.

At some stage the name HLS was changed to HSE.

In the affidavit, Povall alleges Schreuder created fictitious invoices then authorised payments into his FNB and Absa accounts.

When Floorworx checked, the banking details used to pay HLS were the same as Schreuder’s private FNB account.

Schreuder was then suspended and barred from the premises.

He had been with the company for 20 years and a financial director for 10 years.

“Looking at the audit trail on [Floorworx’s system] we know he has been manipulating supplier codes and bank account details as far back as at least 2005,” Povell said.

“The fear that [Schreuder] will abscond with [Floorworx’s] money is a real fear. He has been suspended and knows criminal proceedings have been preferred against him.

“He took a significant amount of money and the temptation to hide all or a large portion of money must be very real.”

Floorworx manufactures and imports vinyl sheeting and tiles as well as floor and wall accessories for commercial applications. — siyab@dispatch.co.za