Prosecutor in dock for allegedly demanding R5K to make drunk driving case disappear

A prosecutor who allegedly took a bribe and tampered with the blood evidence of a drunk driver found himself in the dock on charges of corruption and extortion, the Hawks said on Wednesday.

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the attorney, based at the King Williams Town Magistrate’s Court, was arrested by the Eastern Cape Serious Corruption Investigation Unit on Tuesday following a complaint that he had demanded R5,000 from someone who had been arrested for drunk driving in January last year.

“In June of the same year, the suspect received a call from prosecutor Ncedo Moyeni, 45, informing him about the blood alcohol results that were over the required limit,” Mulaudzi said in a statement.

“The accused, accompanied by his wife, met with Moyeni in his office where he allegedly demanded a R5,000 payment to make sure that the docket is closed. He managed to raise R4,000 and paid Moyeni with a promise to pay the balance in instalments.”

The man, however, was “taken aback” when the investigating officer in the case phoned him to inform him of his next court appearance a month later.

“He confronted Moyeni who informed him that any query should be directed to his office. The matter was reported to the Hawks and it was confirmed that the case was indeed allocated to Moyeni and it was disposed of as withdrawn due to different seal numbers on the blood results.”

The prosecutor was arrested on Tuesday and made a brief appearance in the local regional court.

He was granted R1,000 bail and the case was postponed to November 29.

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