By Staff Reporter
JOHANNESBURG, April 21 — Namibian national Evan Mutale, 44, has been granted R10,000 bail by the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court. Mutale faces charges of stealing over R5 million from Jaira Construction and Projects, where he worked as an accountant, managing accounts, payroll, and loading payments.
The matter will be heard at the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on April 21, 2023, for a decision on a pretrial date, according to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Henry Mamothame.
Mamothame confirmed that Mutale is a Zambian national, but has a fixed residential address and properties in South Africa. Mutale is also confirmed to be working in the country and has no previous convictions.
Mutale is facing 21 charges of fraud and three alternative charges of money laundering. He was arrested by the SAPS’s Provincial Commercial Crime Unit on April 12, 2023, in Rustenburg.
It is alleged that between September 2019 and November 2020, Mutale fraudulently transferred money into an account belonging to an individual with no links to the company but known to him. Mutale allegedly deceived his supervisor into making final authorisations for money to be transferred into his accomplice’s bank account by pretending to pay a service provider for services rendered to the company. – Namibia Daily News
