Cop who forged matric may have to pay back the money

Disgraced SAPS spokesman Vincent Mdunge has to wait yet another month to find out if he will have to pay back the money.

Last month the former KwaZulu-Natal top cop was found guilty of fraud and forgery over a fake matric certificate.

In 2013, it was discovered that Mdunge, who had by then been promoted to colonel, had done so on the back of fake credentials.

Senior state prosecutor Barend Groen and Mdunge’’s defence, advocate Saleem Khan were at loggerheads yesterday over an amount of R874,901 which the state claims Mdunge must repay.

The amount, said Groen, was paid to Mdunge after each of his promotions, in which a matric certificate played a significant role.

Khan called for a suspended sentence citing the fact that Mdunge had already lost his position within SAPS, had suffered “severe humiliation” as a result of the trial and has been “punished by the deprivation of his pension“.

But Groen said: “The accused had 15 years to rethink his fraud and in that time received one promotion after the other“.

He said this sidelined other officers with legitimate credentials.

The case has been adjourned to next month after Magistrate Thandeka Fikeni said that the exact amount needed to be clarified after Khan stated that Mdunge had been taxed and therefore owned no money.