Three people found guilty of attempting to defraud the Royal Bafokeng Trust Fund of R500 million have each been sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
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- Three people have each been sentenced for 15 years after attempting to defraud a trust fund of R500 million.
- They pretended to be signatories and attempted to have the money transferred to another account.
- A bank employee who became suspicious alerted the police.
Three people found guilty of attempting to defraud the Royal Bafokeng Trust Fund of R500 million have each been sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
The trust forms part of African community investment company Royal Bakfokeng Holdings.
“Goci and Sehlapelo were also sentenced to another two years [of] direct imprisonment for [the] contravention of Section 18 (1) of the Identification Act. They were further declared unfit to possess a firearm. The sentences are to run concurrently,” Maluleke added.
Goci, Sehlapelo and Aaron Madanda approached a consultant at an Absa bank in Burgersfort and claimed to be signatories of the trust.
“They presented fraudulent identity documents and asked the bank employee to assist in opening an account to transfer R500 million from Royal Bafokeng Holdings into the new account,” said Maluleke.
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The bank official became suspicious and alerted authorities and Goci, Sehlapelo and Madanda were arrested.
During the investigation, police arrested Makalela, believed to be the mastermind behind the attempted fraud, at his home in Alexandra.
Madanda is serving a jail term for unrelated fraud and his trial is under way.
