The Free State Division of the High Court has handed down a 14-year direct prison sentence to 52-year-old Sello Cedric Pinkoane for fraud, uttering, and money laundering involving R64.8 million.
The court found that Pinkoane orchestrated an elaborate scam beginning in January 2017. He approached an elderly businesswoman with a deceptive business proposition, falsely claiming to have secured a lucrative tender with a leading mining company. Pinkoane informed the victim he was in urgent need of vehicles and cash to fulfil the contract.
Trusting his claims, the elderly businesswoman obliged by purchasing six Isuzu bakkies and providing him with a substantial sum of money. The scheme unravelled when the victim, growing suspicious, made enquiries directly with the mining company. She discovered that Pinkoane had never secured any tender.
Further investigation revealed that after obtaining the vehicles, Pinkoane had forged the victim’s signature to fraudulently change the ownership documents and subsequently sold the bakkies for his own gain.
Pinkoane’s arrest followed on 18 January 2025, culminating in his conviction on charges of fraud, uttering (the presentation of a forged document as genuine), and money laundering related to the R64.8 million scheme.
In delivering the sentence on Wednesday, the High Court deemed a lengthy direct imprisonment term necessary, sentencing Pinkoane to 14 years behind bars.