R50,000 bail for trio accused of pocketing monies meant for coal washing plant

Three men accused of defrauding a company of millions of rands, have been granted bail. Picture: IOL Archives

Three men accused of defrauding a company of millions of rands, have been granted bail. Picture: IOL Archives

Published Dec 12, 2023

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Three men accused of defrauding a company of millions of rands, have been granted bail.

Molojwa Keikelame, Gavin Boyle and Terrence Lahee appeared in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial crimes court, sitting in Palm Ridge on Tuesday, where they were granted R50,000 bail each.

South African Police Services' Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as the Hawks) spokesperson, Colonel Katlego Mogale, said the trio are accused of fraud and contravention of the Companies Act.

“During September 2022, the complainant entered into a contract with one of the suspects who is a director of the Consulmet to build a coal wash plant, amounting to R55 million,” Mogale explained, in a media statement.

“The complainant paid several instalments amounting to over R39 million, but the suspects had not started nor keeping up with their end of the bargain.”

The complainant then approached the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigating team who then investigated the matter and obtained warrants of arrest for the trio.

Mogale added that the trio handed themselves over on Monday while a search is under way for two more people implicated in the crime.

Mogale added that the case was postponed to March 5, for further investigation.

IOL