4 days ago
Man accused of impersonating ex Hawks head denied bail
The Hatfield magistrate's court has denied bail to parolee Thabo Enoch Theletsane who is accused of fraud and impersonating a police official.
'It is alleged that on October 25 2024 while out on parole after serving a sentence for fraud, Theletsane, 41, contacted a prominent businessman via WhatsApp using a profile picture of the former national head of the Hawks Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya,' National Prosecuting Authority Lumka Mahanjana said
During the call, he allegedly claimed the businessman's phone had been hacked and that the businessman would be contacted by a 'Mr Mokoena', purportedly a police officer from the cybercrime unit.
Posing as 'Mr Mokoena', Theletsane allegedly told the businessman that his phone had been hacked and offered to 'clean' it.
'He is accused of requesting the businessman's frequently used contact numbers, which he then obtained. The accused allegedly asked the businessman to make a payment for a hard drive to store his information; however, this payment was not made.'
In a separate incident, Theletsane allegedly contacted another complainant using the numbers supplied by the businessman.
He allegedly told the second complainant that their phone had been hacked and requested a payment of R50,000 for a hard drive to store their information. The complainant paid the money.
'After realising they had been defrauded, both victims reported the matter to the police on November 1 2024. After an intensive investigation, Theletsane was arrested on May 10.'
In court, Theletsane requested bail, claiming he has seven children and another on the way to provide for.
Prosecutor Dikeledi Moganyaka opposed bail and read into the record an affidavit by investigating officer Mpho Phantinah Dlamini, who said the accused had deliberately given a false address during the investigation and had two previous convictions for fraud and forgery from 2020, making him likely to reoffend if released.
Denying Theletsane bail, the court agreed with the state that the accused had a propensity for committing crime since he is alleged to have committed the latest offences just days after being released on parole.
The case was postponed until September 2 for transfer to the Pretoria magistrate's court.
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