TWO Hlotse women have been arrested for theft, bribery and impersonating the police. Lorna McKenzie and Nthabiseng Motiki are accused of stealing M300 000 from Pedro Manuel De Olivier Goncalves, a South African, between 2020 and 2024. McKenzie and Motiki have also been charged with threatening Goncalves and money laundering.
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They were arrested by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO).
The first charge is that they demanded a bribe of M158 200 from Goncalves and threatened to have him arrested if he didn’t pay up.
They allegedly told him that if he didn’t pay they would harm him and his family or get his business closed.
The second count is that they extorted M12 500 after Motiki impersonated a police officer and threatened to arrest Goncalves.
The charge sheet says Motiki would call Goncalves demanding bribes, saying he was implicated in a case in which McKenzie was charged with possession of illegal diamonds.
“The victim then sent the money and the accused received the money,” the charge sheet reads.
The third count is of laundering the M170 700 which they received from Goncalves, obtained through extortion and impersonating a police officer.
McKenzie and Motiki appeared in the Tšifa-li-Mali Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
They are out on M2 000 bail and M10 000 surety each.
The prosecution could not give further details of the alleged crimes because investigations are ongoing.
They were remanded to Tuesday next week.
’Malimpho Majoro
