Neighbours shocked as cops scale the walls of ex-Chiefs PRO's house
Tshakoane and his son arrested for 'Ponzi scheme'
Image: Veli Nhlapo
As police arrested former Kaizer Chiefs PRO Louis “Sprinter” Tshakoane shortly after he made a funeral speech in Tshwane on Tuesday, officers were scaling the walls of his Kempton Park home, demanding to be let in to arrest his son.
Tshakoane was arrested at the funeral of Mamelodi Sundowns communications manager Alex “Goldfingers” Shakoane, four years after police first issued a warrant for his arrest for allegedly running a R100m Ponzi scheme with his son Kgopotso, 34.
Neighbours who spoke to Sowetan said they were shocked to learn Tshakoane was a wanted man as he lived in his home, coming and going as he pleased. One neighbour said shortly before midday on Tuesday she saw police vehicles parking outside Tshakoane’s gate, demanding to be let in, while other officers scaled the brick wall.
“I was scared when I heard the noise outside and I didn’t know what was going on. There were about four police cars with lots of police with big guns, some were on top of the wall shouting ‘open the gate, open the gate’.
“I don’t know them [the Tshakoanes] well and I’ve been living here for the past two years and always see a bulky gentleman taking out the rubbish bin,” said the neighbour.
“Are they rich because I always see them driving fancy cars? He didn’t act like someone who was in hiding because I’d see him driving out of his house to pick up his grandchildren from school. They are friendly neighbours and I’ve known them for a very long time.”
Another neighbour said he saw Tshakoane on Monday but had not seen him for a while before that.
Mourners in Mamelodi assumed the police were there to protect the high-profile mourners who included mining magnate and CAF president Patrice Motsepe and Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi.
“It seems the police were waiting for him to finish his speech and pounce on him. But everything was calm and not many noticed he was being arrested,” added a Sundowns supporter who asked not to be named.
Before his arrest, armed Hawks officers were seen milling around outside the church. Moments later they were seen escorting Tshakoane out of the church with one officer holding a warrant of arrest. They led him to their vehicle.
The father and son are expected to appear in the Palm Ridge specialised commercial crimes court on Wednesday on charges of fraud, theft, money laundering and contravention of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, said Gauteng police spokesperson Col Katlego Mogale.
Tshakoane, 74, has been on the run since 2019 when police issued a warrant for his arrest with his wife, Komane, 60, for allegedly swindling investors through the son’s unregistered scheme known as Undercover Millionaires. At some time, police claimed they could not find the trio, even when they visited their Kempton Park home.
Kgopotso handed himself over in 2018 and was given R70,000 bail, but according to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, he absconded. A warrant was issued for his arrest but he could not be traced despite posting pictures on his social media, globetrotting the world and living a lavish lifestyle.
Kgopotso was the first to be arrested before police showed up at the funeral to arrest his father.
A company search by Sowetan on Tuesday showed Tshakoane runs 14 companies, including Undercover Millionaires, which he co-owns with Kgopotso. The company was deregistered in 2019 for noncompliance with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission.
Kedibone Somfula, a pensioner from Ormonde, Johannesburg, invested R20,000 of her pension fund to the scheme in 2015 after she attended a presentation by Kgopotso in Sandton. Like other attendees, she was told her investment will mature every three months and could almost double in three months.
“He promised us heaven and earth. He told us that through cryptocurrency we could make millions and he even demonstrated how the money would accumulate interest. All we had to do was deposit the money into their business bank account. There were many of us [investors] from different provinces. We were so excited.”
It was after trying to lay claim to her dividends that she found out it was all lies. “He [Kgopotso] just kept telling us to be patient, but we knew something was wrong when people who had invested long before us were not getting their money.”
She wanted to use the money to start a small farm.
“Their arrests mean nothing to me. I am not going to get my money back.”
Paulina Sithole invested R20,000 from the inheritance left by her late policeman husband. She was told that it would be R50,000 in three months.
“They took our hard-earned money for a lavish life while we still had children to care for,” said Sithole.
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