ZAMBIAN NATIONAL ACCUSED OF STEALING OVER R5 MILLION GRANTED BAIL
The Rustenburg Magistrates’ granted Court Evan Mutale (44), R10 000 bail and the matter will appear in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 21 April 2023, for a pretrial date to be decided. The verification process discovered that he is a Zambian National but has a fixed residential address as well as properties in South Africa. He is also confirmed to be working in the country and has no previous convictions.
The accused is facing 21 charges of fraud and three alternative charges of money laundering, his court appearance comes after his arrest by the SAPS’ Provincial Commercial Crime Unit on 12 April 2023, in Rustenberg. He was subsequently charged with stealing over R 5 million, from Jaira Constructions and Projects, where he was employed as an accountant, responsible for managing accounts, payroll, and loading payments.
It is alleged that between September 2019 and November 2020, Mutale fraudulently transferred money into an account belonging to an individual who has no links to the company but is known to him. These transactions were allegedly done under the pretense of paying a service provider for services rendered to the company. In the process, he deceived his supervisor to make final authorisations for money to be transferred into his accomplice’s bank account.
Investigations revealed that some of this money was later transferred to his bank account, as such contributed to the state charging him with money laundering, and Police are not ruling out the possibility of making more arrests.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in the North West, Dr. Rachel Makhari together with the North West Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, expressed their satisfaction with the progress made following the arrest of the accused and the speed at which court processes are being conducted.
