A Free State "fake advocate" has been convicted of fraud for impersonating a defence attorney.
Ntate Manuel Mabesa, 53, was handed 10 years' direct imprisonment in the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Wednesday after he was found guilty on charges of fraud, impersonating an attorney and perjury.
"It is alleged that in June 2014 Mabesa approached the prosecutor and offered him R500 gratification as a thank you for not opposing bail in a case where Mabesa was the defence attorney in a robbery case," Hawks spokesperson Captain Christopher Singo said.
The prosecutor initiated a background check on Mabesa and, after establishing he had offices at the Free State Bar, handed the matter to the Hawks for investigation.
"[A] preliminary probe by the Hawks' Serious Corruption Investigation team revealed that Mabesa was admitted as an advocate by the Bar council. The High Court was also approached for documentation and his degree from the University of the Free State, amongst the documents, was confirmed to be fraudulent after following the verification process," Singo said.
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