A fake lawyer who swindled unsuspecting victims of over R1m in “legal fees” despite not having legal qualifications has been sentenced to 20 years in jail.
Magistrate Samuel Maboho said Kagiso Selomane, 45, was influenced by greed when he defrauded desperate people who had approached him in the hope that he would help to solve their legal problems.
“The offences were pre-planned, influenced by greed, and the complainants suffered substantial loss,” Maboho said on Monday at the Rustenburg magistrate’s court.
At the time that Selomane lied about being a lawyer, he was an official at a trade union.
However, when he met with his victims, he told them he was a lawyer, and took them to an office in Rustenburg where he charged them R1,000 to open a file and later charged more money for consultations.
They also gave him petrol money when he asked for it, saying he was going to court.
The offences were pre-planned, influenced by greed, and the complainants suffered substantial loss,
— Samuel Maboho, magistrate
Selomane’s victims decided to open cases against him after they had paid him, but he failed to help them resolve their issues. He stopped answering their calls and ignored them.
According to Sive Gunya, a spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in the North West, Selomane was arrested on October 20 2015 after some victims reported him to the police.
“Though he initially pleaded guilty to only four counts of fraud, state advocate Rodger Mareume argued that his guilty plea was not genuine, pointing out that he showed no remorse and failed to repay the victim,” Gunya said.
One of the people Solomane defrauded is Elias Matsonjego Molemane, who was going through a divorce. He approached Selomane to help with the divorce proceedings. Despite paying Selomane R167,000, Molemane did not get any help.
He had to get another lawyer and pay him so that his divorce could be finalised.
Maureen Coetzee lost the R94,000 she paid to Selomane, who said he would help wind up her deceased father’s estate.
Gunya said Selomane’s modus operandi was to demand upfront payments for legal services that he never provided.
“In some cases, he duped clients into sitting in empty courtrooms, saying their cases had been postponed, while in reality, no proceedings had been scheduled,” he said.
In 2017, Selomane was found guilty of fraud for stealing R785,000 from a deceased person’s account.
He was sentenced to three years of correctional supervision and a further eight years imprisonment suspended for five years. He was further ordered to repay the stolen money.
He is on trial for another fraud case where he is alleged to have defrauded the victim of R350,000.
SowetanLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.