Cape Town doctor Bert Wolfgang Kirsten has been sentenced after entering into a plea agreement with the state for the selling and distribution of scheduled medicine worth about R5m.
Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said Kirsten pleaded guilty to 1 198 counts of selling scheduled medicine as well as 570 counts of money laundering under Section 4 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca).
The sentencing was the result of a 2018 investigation led by the Western Cape Hawks South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (Saneb) team, where scheduled medicine was seized during a probe into an illegal international medicine distribution network, reports Cape Times.
Kirsten and his wife – against whom all charges were later withdrawn – had been arrested by Saneb and Wynberg Visible Policing Unit at Kenilworth post office with envelopes containing scheduled medicines destined for the United States.
The couple was charged with contravening the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act‚ read with the Drug and Drug Trafficking Act.
For selling and distribution of scheduled medicine, Kirsten was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years on condition he is not convicted of the same offence during that time, and six years for money laundering, wholly suspended for five years on condition he is not convicted of the same offence during the suspension.
He was also sentenced to three years’ correctional supervision.
“The value of his proceeds amounts to R5m, which resulted in a confiscation order being granted for that amount, which will be paid into the Criminal Asset Recovery Account (Cara),” said Hani.
Cape Times PressReader article – Doctor sentenced for selling meds worth R5 million (Open access)
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