A disbarred lawyer who is accused of scamming prospective home buyers of their hard-earned money is now facing five more charges related to fraud and is said to be a person of interest in at least 20 other cases.
Emoldah Manamela, a former conveyancing lawyer who was arrested last week appeared in the Pretoria magistrate’s court yesterday charged with defrauding eight victims who have since opened criminal cases against her.
She is accused of defrauding her alleged victims as a conveyancer between 2019 and 2022.
I then paid her R192,000 which I had taken as a loan and I was expected to move in on October 15 in 2021.
— Teacher
One of Manamela’s victims, a Limpopo teacher is settled with a R192 000 debt after he took a loan to buy a house he saw advertised near Tembisa Hospital. The man who asked not to be named said he has to continue paying R4,000 monthly for the next two years to settle the debt for a house he does not own after he was defrauded allegedly by Manamela.
Manamela is believed to have defrauded her clients millions rand and had been evading arrest until her police husband handed her over to authorities last week.
Speaking to Sowetan the teacher said his wife who was working at Tembisa Hospital saw an advert for a house that was being sold in Soshanguve, Tshwane.
“I then reached out to Scorpion because I was represented by them at the time. I told them about my interest in the house and that I had been dealing with a conveyancer [Manamela]. Scorpion advised with me to check with the LPC (Legal Practice Council) Manamela’s standing as a lawyer. LPC confirmed that Manamela was a legit lawyer,” he said.
He said the property he was expected to buy was an RDP house valued at R180,000 and then Manamela told him to pay R25,000 extra for transfer of ownership.
“I then paid her R192,000 which I had taken as a loan and I was expected to move in on October 15 in 2021. I paid because I had gone to view the house twice before and nothing seem dodgy.”
The man said seven days before he was due to move in he received an anonymous call informing that he had been scammed.
“That is when I went to the house and found an old lady I had not seen before in my previous visits. She said she knew nothing about Manamela and the house being sold,” he said.
He immediately went to report the matter to the police but the wheels of justice took a long time to turn.
The man said that at first he was paying R7,000 towards the loan and he had to renegotiate the agreement and he now pays R4,000 per month so that he can support his family.
The LPC confirmed that Manamela was struck off the roll of qualified practitioners in October 2022 for several transgressions.
During Manamela’s appearance on Monday the state revealed that it will add five additional charges of fraud against Manamela.
According to the charge sheet, Manamela is alleged to have stolen a total of R580,000 from three clients who were either buying or selling houses in the Pretoria area between 2019 and 2020.
The five new cases to be added to the charge sheet involve a sum of about R600,000.
The charge sheet states that in May 2019, she defrauded a client of R170,000 and in August that year, she defrauded another victim of R260,000.
On the third charge, between April and October 2020, she defrauded another client of R150,000.
On Monday, she appeared in court for a formal bail application. However, state prosecutor Chris Maruma revealed that Manamela had four outstanding warrants of arrest against her that had not yet been effected.
Maruma asked that the matter stand down for further investigation.
“I have spoken to the investigating officer and he has indicated that the accused will be charged with the other five matters [on Tuesday] and this week they will consolidate other matters,” he said.
The state opposed bail and the matter was postponed to December 15 by magistrate Aubrey Mphahlele, who remanded Manamela in custody.
A source close to the investigation told Sowetan that Manamela had been evading arrest since 2021 and could possibly be linked to more than 20 cases that were opened in Sunnyside.
“Investigators believe that she is a person of interest in those cases,” the source said.
Manamela was arrested on Monday last week after her police officer husband handed her over to the Lyttleton police station.
After her arrest, police district spokesperson Cpt Johan Van Dyk urged anyone who may have been targeted by Manamela to come forward.
Sowetan
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