Alleged fugitive re-arrested for fraud
Palesa Maje (25) was remanded in custody by the Nelspruit Commercial Crime Court on Monday. This follow her failure to appear before court on several occasions after she was released on bail for fraud.
Maje was re-arrested by members of the Hawks Serious Corruption Investigation in Mpumalanga on Sunday at Honeydew informal settlement in Gauteng Province for Fraud.
It is alleged that around 2017 Maje and her boyfriend Bongani Sibuyi decided to start an entrepreneurship program at Bushbuckridge municipality.
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The Hawks Mpumalanga spokesperson, Dineo Sekgotodi, said, “They invited unemployed youth to be part of the program. The interested youth applied and they were interviewed and more than 350 qualifying learners were told to pay administration fee of R250 each to the bank account of the unregistered company belonging to the two accused.”
“The learners were promised that they will receive R3000 monthly stipend. After payments the program never materialised, the two accused disappeared and left learners stranded. The victims tried all means to locate the suspects with no success. The matter was reported to the Hawks and investigation ensued which led to the arrest of the two accused and were later released on bail.”
Maje absconded court and a warrant of arrest was issued twice against her until her recent arrest. She will join her co-accused back in Court on Tuesday.
