Former law firm
employee Babalwa Mjikelo (36) has been sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment
following her conviction on several charges, including fraud and money
laundering.
The sentence was handed
down by the Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court yesterday, April 26.
Mjikelo was employed by
Vaphi Attorneys law firm in Mthatha between January 2018 and February 2019
where she was responsible for handling estate funds, which she never paid to the
beneficiaries but instead used the monies for her personal enrichment.
“After the families
complained to the director of the law firm that they did not receive their
monies, the director reported the matter to the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime
Investigation team based in Mthatha for probing which led to the arrest of
Mjikelo on January 17, 2022. She made her first court appearance in Mthatha
Specialised Commercial Crime court on January 18 where she was released on R5 000 bail.
“The investigations
revealed that the victims were prejudiced cash to the value of R3.7 million.
The matter was remanded on several occasions until the conviction on April 11 where Mjikelo was found guilty on four counts of fraud and four counts of money
laundering,” said Eastern Cape Hawks spokesperson, Captain Yolisa Mgolodela.
On April 26 Mjikelo was sentenced to 15 years’ direct imprisonment on the counts of fraud
and to 16 years on counts of money laundering. Both sentences will run
concurrently.
Hawks provincial head, Major General Mboiki Obed Ngwenya, once more lauded the Mthatha Serious Commercial
Crime Investigation team of the Hawks for their detection expertise which
ensured that Mjikelo gets relevant retribution to deter the same conduct by
other would-be offenders.
