An Eastern Cape prosecutor has been arrested by the Hawks on charges of fraud, forgery and uttering for allegedly submitting forged academic qualifications to secure employment.
Police spokesperson W/O Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana said the 33-year-old had been enrolled for a Bachelor of law (LLB) degree at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) between January 2010 and December 2016.
He allegedly failed to meet the academic requirements to graduate.
Despite this, he allegedly submitted a falsified LLB degree certificate and a bogus legal education and development (Lead) attendance report as part of his application to the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) aspirant prosecutor programme, which required a legitimate LLB qualification or proof of final year status.
Mhlakuvana said the accused was appointed as an aspirant prosecutor in January 2021 and later elevated to the position of public prosecutor.
Proof of his qualifications was requested when he sought to climb the career ladder.
"The accused applied for promotion at regional court as a prosecutor using the same credentials and he was shortlisted for appointment. However, the NPA requested him to submit the original academic certificates," Mhlakuvana said.
He resigned with effect from March 15.
"The institution picked up discrepancies in his qualifications and referred the matter to the Hawks for investigation.
"The Hawks confirmed WSU had never conferred an LLB degree to him and Lead had never issued him the attendance report due to outstanding fees.
"Through misrepresentation, the NPA suffered financial prejudice of more than R1.1m from the salaries paid to him during his fraudulent term of employment."
The would-be prosecutor was arrested on July 22 and briefly appeared before the Mthatha specialised commercial crime court on the same day, where he was granted R5,000 bail. The case was postponed to August 18.
TimesLIVE
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