A former acting court manager in the Free State has been convicted on charges of theft, fraud, and money laundering in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court.
Gaobuse Desmond Mokhobo, 33, was found guilty on the charges against him on February 16.
The provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as Hawks), Captain Christopher Singo said the matter was referred to the Hawks by the justice department.
“In 2019, the department of justice became suspicious of fraud involving third-party funds at Zastron Magistrate’s Court. They then reported the matter to the Hawks' Serious Corruption Investigation team in Bloemfontein for further investigation,” Singo said.
“It was discovered that the accused, who was employed at Zastron Magistrate’s Court, would make deposits into the bank account of his partner using the credentials of another court official. As a result, the department of justice was prejudiced and suffered a total loss of R300,000.”
The matter against Mokhobo was postponed until April 4, for sentencing.
In an unrelated matter, a 50-year-old man is expected to appear in the Sasolburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday facing charges of corruption and defeating the ends of justice.
The man is alleged to have offered a police sergeant a bribe in exchange for the release of a rape suspect.
The man approached an investigating officer working on a case of a 31-year-old illegal foreign national who was arrested for allegedly raping a 25-year-old woman at knifepoint in Viljoensdrift.
The suspect allegedly offered the investigating officer a large sum of money so she could sell the docket in question to him and make it disappear.
IOL