A man convicted of running a Ponzi scheme in the Free State got the gift of justice for his birthday when he was sentenced for fraud and money laundering in the Bethlehem Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday.
Caleb Ntuli, 41, and his business, Tshwaranang Stokvel, an investment scheme infamous for promising investors a 50% interest within 30 days, were brought before the court.
The business had been convicted of fraud and a sentence of a R1 million fine suspended for five years and a R700,000 fine suspended for five years on charges of money laundering was handed down by the same court.
Ntuli was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for fraud and money laundering.
The matter was investigated by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as Hawks) in the Free State.
The Free State Hawks spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Zweli Mohobeleli said the directorate’s Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team probed the matter.
“Over 250 victims invested their hard-earned cash into Tshwaranang Stokvel between 2016 and 2019. A cumulative amount of about R8 million was lost. Investors cried foul when there were no dividends and Ntuli was nowhere to be found.
“The Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in Bethlehem traced Ntuli to Palm Ridge in Gauteng where he was arrested on September 17, 2022,” Mohobeleli said.
The head of the Hawks in the Free State, Major General Mokgadi Bokaba commended the investigating team for their commitment to solving this complex crime.
Bokaba urged residents to be weary of get-rich-quick schemes.
“Get-rich-quick schemes almost always have the same outcome. Their promises of return on investment are usually too good to be true and must not be believed,” she said.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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