Sheriff found guilty of stealing from clients
During the trial Ledwaba pleaded not guilty and argued that he had no intention to permanently deprive complainants of the money.
ERMELO- The Ermelo Regional Court recently convicted a former Ermelo-Amsterdam Sheriff, Mr Matsobane Arthur Ledwaba guilty of theft for amounts ranging from R1 000 to R60 000.
The court sentenced Ledwaba to six years direct imprisonment. The court heard that after conducting an auction of the attached properties for and on behalf of the plaintiffs, Ledwaba would spend and keeps the proceeds in his business and personal accounts.
He was in contempt of several high court orders to pay the plaintiffs who eventually laid criminal cases against him. This is said to had took place for a period of ten years.
During the trial Ledwaba pleaded not guilty and argued that he had no intention to permanently deprive complainants of the money.
The prosecutor in this case, Advocate Moeng Molatudi successfully handed in documentary evidentiary material of related previous civil proceedings and led evidence of the complainants and those attorneys who represented the complainants as plaintiffs in civil proceedings.
Welcoming the sentence, the DPP in Pretoria, Advocate Sibongile Mzinyathi applauded the work done by Advocate Moeng Molatudi and the team with the hope that it will serve as a deterrent to would be fraudsters.
