Courts

MBABANE – The Judiciary has launched an investigation into the issuance of fraudulent bail receipts following the arrest of a five-person syndicate, which includes a pastor.

The group is suspected to be working with court officials to fraudulently release inmates.

The internal investigation by the Judiciary is expected to determine if there was any involvement of staff members into these fraudulent activities.

There is a fear that inmates may have been released from jail using the fake documents and authorities suspect collusion between the syndicate and some employees within the judicial system. The prosecution has indicated that more charges may be added as the investigation continues.

Registrar of the High Court Nosipho Mazibuko said her office has launched an investigation to get to the bottom of the matter. This follows the recent arrest of a group of individuals reportedly manufacturing documents, including bail receipts.

“We are looking into the matter to get to the bottom of it after having seen it in the paper,” said Mazibuko.

It is alleged that the syndicate members colluded with some government offices in the manufacturing of the documents. The police are continuing to uncover more information in the matter and it is reported that more charges might be added against the arrested individuals.

Last week, a pastor, a civil servant and two businessmen were arrested in connection with the fraudulent documents. Pastor Thulani Dlamini, Sifiso Kunene (49), Ndumiso ‘Kaizer’ Dlamini (44), Sanele ‘Phishaphisha’ Lukhele (39) and Mhlonishwa Mkhatshwa (23) were apprehended after allegedly producing a fake bail receipt.

The fraudulent bail receipt was reportedly used to secure the release of Fortune Shongwe from Sidwashini Correctional Services. The production of the receipt at the Correctional facility prompted an investigation by the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) Financial and Economic Unit, which then dismantled the syndicate.

Preliminary police investigations revealed that Kunene was the mastermind behind the fraudulent receipts. He had reportedly been stealing government stationery to produce the documents, which were issued to the public, to the detriment of the Eswatini Government Treasury Department. The accused persons currently face two counts of fraud and have been released on bail set at E2 000 each.

The arrest of the five last week, came almost a year later, as this newspaper on August 26, 2024, reported the infiltration of the Judiciary by those forging State documents. The Times of Eswatini’s investigation uncovered that money was claimed at the Treasury Department, which had been paid for accused persons in terms of bail.

The accused persons on whose behalf the money is paid are those who seek liberty while their cases are not yet concluded. The investigation uncovered that there are individuals who manufacture government documents with the sole purpose of reproducing them at the Treasury Department and thereby defrauding government.

As such, this modus operandi is similar to that which has been used at the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was established that the fraudsters collude with government officials in order to get a blank document, which they then reproduce and use in their illicit activities.

Upon reproduction of the document, the fraudsters reportedly get names of individuals who were admitted to bail and whose trials are dragging in the courts. According to sources, the tricksters target deceased individuals, who had been admitted to bail and whose cases had taken too long to be concluded.

They also target individuals whose cases were concluded, but nobody claimed their money back, probably due to a lack of knowledge that they were entitled to do so.

The fraudsters reportedly work with personnel within the Judiciary and also at the Treasury Department. It is supposed that their contacts at the Treasury Department share information on monies which have not been claimed by those who were granted bail.

It was established that their links in the Judiciary offered them the documents for reproduction purposes. It was also supposed that the fraudsters’ contacts in the Judiciary further assisted them to facilitate the process of claiming back the unclaimed bail money.

Full article available in our publication.

Registrar of the High Court Nosipho Mazibuko said her office has launched an investigation to get to the bottom of the matter. (Pic: Southern Africa Litigation Centre)