Possible plea bargain for Diaz fraud-accused

Update

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Cindy Bessinger (31), the woman accused of defrauding the Diaz Hotel and Resort of over R1m, has had her case postponed to November for a possible plea bargain.

Bessinger last appeared in the Mossel Bay Regional Court on 22 September, when the court heard that there would be an application for a Section 105(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977.

According to an article by John Ndlovu published online by the De Rebus - SA Attorneys’ Journal on 1 December 2021, this application is where the prosecutor, to whom the National Director of Public Prosecutions must give written authorisation, and the legally represented accused negotiate and enter into a plea and sentence agreement before the accused pleads to the charges before them.

Bessinger faces almost 40 counts of fraud for allegedly creating invoices for services and products for the hotel where she was employed in an administrative capacity.

The payments for these were then, allegedly, made into her own account and in some instances, her former boyfriend’s between October 2024 and March last year.

Bessinger was arrested on 31 March last year and was later released from custody on R20 000 bail. She is expected to appear again in the Mossel Bay Regional Court on 11 November.

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