Families mourning the loss of loved ones never imagined the woman they entrusted with managing their inheritance would allegedly squander it on gambling and shopping.
Yet, that is what the state alleges Annene Claassen did — blowing through R7-million belonging to widows, children, and bereaved relatives.
Wearing a pink jacket and black outfit, with her face made up, Claassen, 36, appeared in the Gqeberha Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday. She faces multiple charges of fraud and theft. Her case was postponed to 25 November.
Claassen, a former trust and estate administrator at Moore Services in Humansdorp, was arrested on 16 September and is out on R1,000 bail.
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The state contends she mixed these funds with legitimate income to conceal their origins before gambling them away — a classic example of placement, layering and integration, key elements in money laundering.
Claassen is also accused of submitting falsified financial reports to the Master of the High Court and misleading beneficiaries to create the impression that estate funds were being properly managed.
“The funds were not lawfully managed, were not accounted for, and had been diverted for unlawful purposes,” reads the charge sheet.
By doing so, prosecutors say, she induced executors, banks, and the Master’s Office to act—or fail to act — to their detriment, by not taking protective measures.
The court heard that no funds remain to be recovered.
The case has drawn comparisons to that of Nelson Mandela Bay accountant Jonathan Blow, sentenced to 22 years in 2024 for stealing R52-million from two SuperSpar outlets, also to fund gambling.
Victims, including Dewald Saayman, 50, are still reeling. Saayman said his father died in August 2022 and that a financial adviser recommended Claassen to wind up the estate.
“She came highly recommended,” he said.
He paid her R564,573 to settle debts and finalise the estate. Nearly a year passed before he received paperwork to transfer ownership of his father’s vehicle. Then Claassen disappeared.
“We were told she was in hospital,” he said. “Then we just couldn’t reach her. Eventually Moore Services called me in and said all the money had been stolen. We still don’t know how it will end.”
The investigation continues.
According to the charge sheet, she was tasked with managing the assets of deceased clients, identifying property, settling debts, and distributing funds to beneficiaries. Instead, the state claims she funnelled large sums from estate accounts into her own and into accounts linked to her private company, Ancoris Fiduciary Services (Pty) Ltd, where she was the sole director.
Between March 2021 and December 2023, the amounts allegedly transferred ranged from R11,500 to more than R450,000 at a time.
In one case, she allegedly moved R457,935.52 from the estate of Orlando Lopes Gustavo into her company’s account, labelling it “Ancoris Fiduciary Services”. Another R191,288.25 reportedly came from the estate of Charl Wynand Rautenbach.
