Former mayor denies car finance scam to pay debt

Herald Reporter

FORMER Jeffreys Bay mayor Booi Koerat has denied allegations by the State that he falsely and fraudulently obtained a vehicle finance loan from the Kouga council to enable him to settle a R30 600 debt with the Receiver of Revenue.

The former Humansdorp school principal, who was appointed mayor of Jeffreys Bay in early 2000, has been charged in the Port Elizabeth commercial crimes court with defrauding the council of R52 000.

It emerged that on May 30 last year Mr Koerat, 55, transferred ownership of his Audi, which had been paid up, to his son-in-law, H Muller. Two days later, he acquired a R52 000 quotation from his son-in-law for the re-sale of the vehicle back to him (Mr Koerat).

The application for a loan was made and authorised.

Mr Koerat, represented by advocate Terry Price, claimed he had no intention of defrauding the council; neither did it suffer any financial prejudice as repayments on the loan were still being made.

To date, R33 000 has been repaid out of the R11 000 monthly council allowance he receives. The vehicle also remains registered in the Kouga council’s name, according to the loan agreement. Mr Koerat said he had given the Audi as a gift to his married daughter, Felicia Muller.

However, because of financial constraints, she asked him if he would “buy” the vehicle back from them. This he did when he applied for the loan.

Mr Koerat said when he gave them the money they said they would only accept R7 000 because he had done so much for them, including having spent R20 000 on their wedding.

Prosecutor Ulrike de Klerk, during cross-examination, described the circumstances which led to Mr Koerat giving the Audi to his daughter as too much of a coincidence

She said while he could have given her the vehicle as early as 2001 after it became fully paid up, this happened only at a time when a new loan scheme for vehicle financing had kicked in at the Kouga council in February 2003.

Ms De Klerk further described it as “strange” that only a few days before he acquired the loan he had the Audi registered in his son-in-law’s name. Two days later, Mr Koerat applied for a loan to re-purchase the same vehicle from his son-in-law.

In his response, Mr Koerat said he had been under “no obligation” to transfer ownership of the Audi to his daughter as early as 2001. Nor did the loan conditions stipulate that he had to state “where, how and from whom” the vehicle could be purchased.

He denied he had borrowed the money to pay R30 700 to the Receiver of Revenue.

Evidence by the State revealed that on May 31, 2003, Mr Koerat’s bank balance was R3 510. On June 2, he had the R52 000 deposited into his banking account and then seven days later, on June 9, paid R30 700 to the Receiver.

It is alleged he falsely obtained the money to pay the Receiver knowing that the only other personal loan scheme available to councilors was for emergencies and limited to R7 000. Closing argument will be heard today.

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