Pretoria – An alleged fraudster who has been on the run since May 2015 has been arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s (the Hawks) serious organised crime investigation team in Nelspruit, working together with community safety initiative Bossies Community Justice.
Police in the Western Cape province had put out a request for 42-year-old Sipho Casta Motha’s arrest, Mpumalanga Hawks spokeswoman Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi said in a statement late on Wednesday.
“The dedicated team spent sleepless nights ensuring that the suspect is brought to book,” Sekgotodi said.
“It is alleged that in June 2014, the suspect allegedly posed as a truck dealer and received approximately R150 000 from a business owner who needed a truck for business purposes.”
The fraud victim travelled from Western Cape to Johannesburg to fetch the heavy duty vehicle, but Motha did not deliver.
“A case was reported to the police in Cape Town and he had been sought until information was received that he was hiding in Mpumalanga province. He was arrested on Tuesday, 26 January 2021 in Barberton following an instant search by the Hawks,” said Sekgotodi.
Motha briefly appeared in the Barberton Magistrate’s Court and was remanded in custody. He is expected to next appear in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town on February 2.
In a separate incident, two men appeared at the eMalahleni district court on charges of fraud earlier this week after a string of transactions in which they used fake fleet fuel cards.
Kenneth Maoto, aged 35, and 34-year-old Reginald Nuvunga were arrested in Witbank by the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation team last Friday.
Using counterfeit fuel cards they created under two different companies, the pair undertook fraudulent transactions amounting to just over R110,000.
The case against the man was postponed to February 3 for further investigation, and they were remanded in custody.
African News Agency (ANA)