MALAMULELE – Two young men, Thomas Simani (24) of Itsani Village near Thohoyandou and Calvin Rampani (22) of Penikotsa settlement in the Malamulele area, briefly appeared in the Malamulele magistrate's court on Monday on a charge of fraud.

The incident relating to the case took place at Malamulele Town last Friday afternoon. According to the spokesperson for the SAPS in the Mopani area, Capt Moatshe Ngoepe, on the date of the incident, the accused met the complainant somewhere in town.

The complainant told the accused that he had a problem relating to child maintenance. The statement indicates that he further told the accused that the money he was paying towards the maintenance of the child was too high and that he was left with as little as nothing in his pocket after payment.

The statement further indicates that the accused then told the complainant that they were lawyers and that they would represent him in court to defend the reduction of the maintenance fee if he paid them a certain amount of money.

The complainant paid an amount of R1 600 to the alleged fake lawyers. According to the statement, the two men then vanished after telling the complainant that they were going to make the necessary arrangements relating to his case in the Malamulele Magistrate's court.

Realising that the men were taking too long to return from court, the complaint decided to report the matter to the police. The accused were traced and arrested at the Malamulele taxi tank. They were asked to plead and the case was postponed to next Wednesday, June 9. They will be in custody until the next court date.