Man accused of impersonating Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya in court
Thabo Theletsane, 42, was arrested on Saturday by the Hawks' national serious corruption investigation unit in Petrus Steyn in the Free State. He is also charged with fraud.
In October last year, the accused allegedly contacted a prominent South African businessman residing in Gauteng via WhatsApp falsely claiming to be Lebeya.
Using a profile picture and personal details resembling those of Lebeya, the accused allegedly deceived the victim. It is alleged the accused claimed the victim's mobile phone had been hacked and, on the pretext of assisting him with a security breach, requested the victim's personal information.
Believing he was communicating with the real national head of the Hawks, the victim provided personal details and contact information of close associates.
'The accused later solicited money, claiming to have successfully 'debugged' the victim's mobile devices. An of more than R100,000 was subsequently paid by the victims,' Hawks spokesperson Brig Thandi Mbambo said.
The case was postponed until Thursday for a bail application and the accused was remanded.
'The community is warned against making payments to police officers as they are not authorised to solicit money for services rendered,' Mbambo said.
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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The fallout revealed irregular transactions totalling €6.5bn (R120bn), as uncovered by PwC's forensic investigation. The scandal triggered a cascade of regulatory probes, shareholder lawsuits, and a catastrophic loss of investor confidence across global markets. 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