A Free State man who claimed he could arrange government tenders appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court.
Phillemon Ramononyane Makhale, 45, faces charges of fraud and money laundering.
Makhale was arrested by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as Hawks) on Tuesday, October 29, while appearing in court for another matter.
The provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Christopher Singo said Makhale claimed he could get tenders from the Department of Health.
“It is alleged that during January 2021, a suspect who introduced himself as ‘Mosia’ approached the complainant and promised her that he could arrange a tender with the Department of Health. The suspect demanded that 10% of the value of the tender be paid to him in advance before the tender would be allocated. The total value of the bogus tender was estimated at R720,000. The complainant then paid the amount of R72,000 to the suspect,” Singo said.
During the meeting with the suspect and complainant to discuss the contract, four men arrived and pretended to be police officials.
“They accused the complainant of committing corruption. The suspects demanded money from the complainant so that they could not arrest her. The complainant paid the total amount of R650,000 to them because she was afraid of being arrested. As a result of the misrepresentation, the complainant was prejudiced and suffered a total loss of R722,000,” Singo said.
The matter was reported to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team based in Bloemfontein for further investigation.
The co-accused who pretended to be police officials: Liabeng Icknatia Hoffman, 46, Siza Isaac Mokwena, 46, and Lehlohonolo Emmanuel Chabedi, 44, were convicted and sentenced on August 3, 2023.
The case against Makhale has been postponed until November 4, 2024, for a formal bail application.
IOL