Worker, accomplices charged with stealing 40 plasma TVs
Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday June 26, 2018 11:09
The four accused are Norman Bigman, 25, who works at Superman Pty Ltd-the warehouse where the plasmas were allegedly stolen from-Misani Modongo, 27, Mpho Ganetsang, 25, and Iwani Matendele, 23.
When the quartet appeared for arraignment before Magistrate Cele Lebakeng today, assistant superintendent Goitsemang Ramatatome applied for the accused’s pleas to be reserved adding that they should further be remanded in custody to allow the police to complete their investigations.
“Our investigations are still at their initial stages. Modongo was arrested on June 22, Bigman and Ganetsang were arrested on June 23 while Matendele was arrested on June 24 in the evening. The investigating officer is still to interview the accused and visit the scene of crime with the accused,” said Ramatatome.
Ramatatome also stated that the police are still looking for two other suspects in the matter who are on the run.
He added: “We hope to arrest the suspects who are on the run soon. We have not recovered any of the stolen items. We pray with the court to remand the accused in custody for another seven days in order to allow the police to continue with their investigations without any possible interference from the accused”.
Asked if he had anything to say concerning to what the prosecutor had just said, Bigman wittingly or unwittingly admitted to having committed the offence.
He asked the court if he could be given the opportunity to negotiate paying the owners of the stolen items.
However, Ramatatome rebuffed Bigman’s gesture of compensating the owners of the items saying that investigations are still ongoing.
He added that Bigman’s plea was compounded by the fact that two other accused persons in the matter are still on the run.
Modongo’s attorney Malike Mmohe told the court that he would for now not move an application for bail for his client in order to allow the police to continue with their investigations.
“We request that the matter be called again next week Tuesday to see if it would by then be appropriate to make an application for bail,” said Mmohe.
Ganetsang and Matendele tried in vain to be granted bail.
Matendele told the court that he knew nothing about the break in and theft.
He said: “My only problem is that my house was used to store the stolen properties. I don’t even know the warehouse were the plasmas were stolen from. I apply that I be given bail”.
Nonetheless, Lebakeng remanded the quartet in jail until July 3 in order to allow police investigations to continue.