A former employee of the justice department in Zastron, Free State, will learn his fate during sentence proceedings after defrauding his employer in April. The accused, Gaobuse Desmond Mokhobo (33), was convicted in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 16 February, with sentence proceedings set for 4 April.
Mokhobo was acting court manager at the time of committing the fraud. His conviction is the result of an investigation by the Bloemfontein Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team.
Capt. Christopher Singo, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, said Mokhobo was convicted after found guilty of charges of theft, fraud, and money laundering. He said Mokhobo defrauded the department of third-party funds worth R300 000 during his term as acting court manager. Singo said the third party funds ranged from bail applications, fines, and child maintenance monies.
“During 2019, the Department of Justice became suspicious of fraud involving third party funds at the Zastron Magistrates’ Court. They then reported the matter to the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team for further investigation. It was discovered that the accused would make deposits into the bank account of his partner using the credentials of another court official. As a result, the Department of Justice was prejudiced and suffered a total loss of R300 000,” said Singo. He said Mokhobo’s sentence proceeding was remanded to 4 April following his conviction.
