A young man from Maebani near Kutama was clapped in irons last week for allegedly impersonating a prosecutor and a police official.

Since his arrest on Friday (9 September), Pfarelo Ndivhuwo Musundwa (24) has remained in custody, while charges against him are, supposedly, still pouring in. He was brought before the Louis Trichardt District Court, where he was charged with fraud. Musundwa was denied bail.

Friday’s case, according to information available, relates to an incident when Musundwa apparently posed as a police officer and accepted money from unsuspecting people to investigate their cases.

On Tuesday, Musundwa appeared in court for a second time on another count of fraud. In this case, while he was travelling in a taxi, he allegedly introduced himself to a fellow passenger as a prosecutor working at the Louis Trichardt Magistrate’s Court. Musundwa allegedly offered to cancel the passenger’s outstanding traffic fine. All the passenger had to do was pay him R300. When the passenger realised that Musundwa was not going to produce a receipt for the money he received, he contacted the police.

Musundwa was denied bail on this charge as well, and both his cases were postponed until September 27 for further investigation. In all likelihood, more cases of fraud will be brought against him.

After his arrest, Control Prosecutor Masia Masia from the Louis Trichardt Magistrate’s Court has urged the public to contact the police if they suspect that they might have fallen victim to Musundwa´s tricks and schemes. Masia also recommends that if people are not sure about somebody’s identity, they can always verify that somebody is indeed a court official by contacting the prosecuters´ offices. In the case of a police officer, he says, people have the right to ask for an official identification card if they are not sure.