The 33-year-old Soweto man who masqueraded as an Advocate and defrauded unsuspecting clients of over R1.5 million was remanded in custody when he appeared before the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Monday.
Makhetha Mathumba lured clients through his facebook account where he posed as a qualified Advocate who graduated with LLM degree in Constitutional and Criminal Litigation at University of Witwatersrand, B Juris, LLB degree at University of Cape Town, and B Proc. from University of Johannesburg.
He was arrested on Saturday after he failed to avail himself in court to represent a client who subsequently open a case. Investigations revealed that Mathumba was not a qualified lawyer and had only a matric certificate to his credit.
Mathumba wore legal representatives’ regalia on his social media account and lured his victims by his impressive fake credentials which suggested that he started practising in 2010 and he had represented clients in and around Johannesburg.
Mathumba, who faces charges of fraud, impersonating legal representatives, and contravening with attorneys act, will be in the dock again on 30 May 2016 when he will make a formal bid for bail.
