Fugitive nabbed in high profile fraud case
Sharon Mathala | Wednesday September 9, 2015 16:25
The property, which included 33 goats and four cattle, had been attached from a debtor.
The second accused and husband to the first accused, Khiro Moyo yesterday appeared before the Mochudi magistrate court.
In previous court mentions, police said Moyo had escaped from custody after the trio’s conviction. It was revealed yesterday that police in Selebi-Phikwe had arrested him early this month. During the trio’s appearance in court yesterday, the former fugitive was welcomed back with smiles from presiding Magistrate Kefilwe Resheng. Moyo said he had decided to turn himself in, adding that in committing the crime, he had ‘naively’ thought he was helping court with the enforcement of the attachment order.
“The court should give me a lesser sentence because the offence was done in pursuit of justice. Apart from departing from the established procedure, there was no malice intended. The offence of stock theft was derived from a technicality, from actions and or omission of the accused in the discharge of the duty imposed on them by the court order and not necessarily committed directly as would be the case if we had broken down kraals,” he said.
State prosecutor, Linani Baitile, however said Moyo had not turned himself in, but was rather arrested after an ‘intense manhunt’.
“Your experience on the run finally proved tedious. You saw that you can run but you cannot hide and as a point of correction you did not turn yourself in, you were arrested after an intense manhunt,” he said.
For her part, the first accused, and former lawyer Tebo, asked the court to speed up its sentencing, saying that her children where due to start their final examinations soon and needed the presence of their mother.
Magistrate Resheng however explained to the accused that her sentence had long been ready.
“I am ready to read out the sentence. I have been ready. Of course I will now have to amend my sentence after the mitigation we just heard from the second accused, but that can be ready by next week,” she said.
Sentencing will be heard next week Friday.
The facts of the case indicate that in June 2006, Ngakaetsile and Moyo were engaged to recover money owed by one Motsamai Tau, to the tune of P60,000. Tau owed Petma Cash Loans and Two Two Five Investments after he engaged the latter to drill a borehole for him and the former to give him a loan.
Moyo, who owned Moyo Attorneys at the time, was then engaged to recover the amounts Tau owed, and as process of the law, she engaged Ngakaetsile as the deputy sheriff in the matter.
Ngakaetsile then attached and confiscated a VW Caddy, wooden wall unit, LG TV set, decoder, 33 goats, four head of cattle, a video recorder, a Kenwood radio, four-piece set of sofas, coffee table, Lister TS1 engine, aluminium irrigation pipes, sprinklers and plastic drippers.
According to papers before court, Ngakaetsile had estimated the property seized to be valued at around P278,000. However, the deputy sheriff did not pay Petma Cash Loans and Two Two Five Investments and no residual amount was ever paid back to Tau.