FREE STATE – Business partners, Teboho Samuel Taso (40) and Momofumahadi Annah Molelekoa (37), who defrauded 64 clients of an estimated R5.6 million during the period of 2011 and 2013 were arrested on Monday 18 November 2019 for contravention of a court order.
The two convicts are owners of an estate agent company Senotetsha Property Developer and Quick Step Trading 545 in Bloemfontein. On 07 September 2012, the complainants deposited money into the business accounts of the accused, for houses that they were interested to purchase, which were presented to them by the fraudsters. After various enquiries by the complainants regarding the status of the transactions and subsequent refunds or cancellations, the pair could not be traced.
As a result, the complainants were prejudiced and suffered a loss of R5.6 million, after it was later established that the specific properties were never for sale. The accused were arrested and found guilty on 64 counts of Fraud, by the Bloemfontein Regional Court. Subsequently, they were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment wholly suspended for 5 years on condition that they are not found guilty of fraud or theft during the time of the suspension and that they reimburse the complainants according to the repayment schedule as ordered by the court.
The first payment was due on the last day of January 2019, and the final payment would be the last day of January 2023. On Monday 18 November, the convicts were arrested on a warrant of arrest, for failure to comply with the court order in terms of the reimbursement of the complainants. The duo appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on 19 November 2019.
