Pastor's wife fraud trial delayed after co-accused pleads guilty

Lingasperi Madurai is accused of stealing R4.1 million from her employer.

A fraud trial involving a pastor’s wife accused of stealing R4.1 million from her employer took an unexpected turn this week after one of her co-accused entered into a plea and sentence agreement with the State, leaving the main trial in limbo.

Lingasperi “Leigh” Madurai, a former human resources manager at P&A Fabricators in Pinetown, was due to stand trial in the Pinetown Regional Court on Monday alongside six co-accused, including her husband, Pastor Dhanapalan Madurai, and their daughter, Devaksha Mangaru.

However, the trial stalled before it could properly begin when former creditors clerk Senamile Mthabela pleaded guilty to fraud.

Mthabela admitted to receiving R257,324.66 in fraudulent payments between 2022 and 2024. In terms of a plea and sentence agreement with the State, she was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years.