SA policemen feature as witness sings in CMS case
OLIVER MODISE
Correspondent
| Friday December 5, 2008 00:00
Tumagole, Maja and eight others are accused of stealing P20 million from Central Medical Stores, through four fraudulent transactions that have resulted in supply shortages at public medical facilities throughout the country.
The trial started late yesterday following differences between the prosecution and the defence on whether to allow Singiombo to give evidence in the absence of Tumagole's lawyer, Duma Boko, on Tuesday.
The Village Chief Magistrate Lot Moroka intervened by ruling that there would be no injustice occasioned by Boko's absence, adding that the defence had previously objected to having the key witness, a convicted fraudster in this case, give evidence.
Moroka said it was in the interests of justice that the case should continue.
Singiombo revealed that he had met Norman Maja, who was introduced to him as 'Major General', and David Tumagole, in March this year. He told the court that he and his friend Thabit met Maja and Tumagole through one of the suspects who is still at large, Reunaert Mondira.
The trio enlisted he and Thabit's help in cashing two cheques. Singiombo helped cash a cheque of about R48, 000, while his friend cashed a cheque of about R43, 600.
He said it was agreed that after cashing the cheques at ABSA Bank, they would be paid 10 percent of the total amount.
Singiombo said he and Thabit failed to cash the cheques on the first day because the teller said she could not allow the transactions because she could not get hold of the person who had authorised the cheques.
It was only after Mondira had called the person whom they said was supposed to authorise the cheques that the cheques were eventually cashed the following day.
They were given their commission after cashing the cheques and Maja, Tumagole and Mondira shared the money at his apartment in Johannesburg.
The following day, he received a call from Mondira who requested him to transport them to the mall because Maja and Tumagole wanted to do some shopping.
When they returned, Mondira tried to call someone who was supposed to give them money, but he hung up when the person at the other end said he was a police officer.
Singiombo said after that, it was all panic as Maja, Mondira and Tumagole did not want to be taken to the hotel where there were staying. He said Maja wanted to board a plane to Botswana, while Mondira and Tumagole wanted to be relocated to another hotel.
'Maja said he wanted to get to Botswana urgently,' he said, adding that he helped the man board a taxi from Johannesburg to Botswana. The following day, Singiombo organised transport from a friend for Mondira and Tumagole to come to Botswana.
Three days later, Maja called him and told him he was coming to South Africa. When Maja arrived in Johannesburg, he said he had come to meet a certain businessman.
Maja then told him he had deposited a lot of money into an account belonging to a businessman called Senamo. Singiombo said when he asked how much was deposited, Maja told him he had deposited more than R7 million. He said Maja told him that ever since the cashing of the cheques at ABSA, Senamo said the account was frozen but Maja believed him to be deliberately dodging him.
'Major said people in Botswana want the money and that this man does not want to give him the money,' he said.
He said after Maja told him this, he told him he would call his friend Thabit to see if he could help out. Singiombo told the court that after that, Thabit decided to call a certain John whom he said was the best man to help out in such a situation.
After relaying his story to John, it was agreed that Maja should come to Botswana to fetch proof that he had deposited the money into Senamo's account and that Maja would also pay John R350, 000 if he helped him get his money from Senamo. It was also agreed that Thabit would get P150, 000.
Singiombo said after their meeting with John, Maja promised to come back to South Africa in three days. Singiombo said he and his wife arranged for Maja to come to South Africa by writing a letter to CMS claiming that Maja was attending a funeral in South Africa.
Immediately Maja arrived, he had a meeting with John and they agreed to go and verify if Senamo's account was indeed frozen. They found that it was not and that a withdrawal had been made the same day.
John then hatched a scheme and decided to call two police officers in his payroll while Maja arranged for a meeting with Senamo. When Senamo arrived for the meeting, the police officers also arrived and took John, Senamo and Maja to a police station to resolve the dispute.
Singiombo said that from the Police station Maja told him that the issue had been resolved and Senamo had agreed to give him his money.
He said that it was agreed that R2 million wiould be deposited in a certain private account belonging to one of Maja's friend while R1.5 million and 370,000 were to be disbursed into two separate accounts belonging to John's friends.
Singiombo said when it came to their payments following the assistance they offered, Maja said (the) R2 million and R1.5million could not be touched because it belonged to some 'big guys in Botswana'. Maja said he was not going to get his R100 ,000 while his friend Thabit was going to get R1,500.
Singiombo said after getting the money from Senamo, Maja came to Botswana. When he called John to get his share, John replied by saying that Maja had instructed him not to give anyone the money. He said that after weeks of waiting, he and his friend Thabit decided enough was enough and decided to come to Botswana to demand their share from Maja.
When they tried to call Maja to tell him that they were on their way, his phone was not available. He said their intention was to go to Maja's workplace at CMS and tell the people there that they had helped Maja get his money but the man did not want to pay up.
Singiombo said while on the way to Botswana, they called Mondira who told them to come to Tumagole's place in Mogoditshane. When they arrived, Mondira took them to see Maja where a fight ensued between Maja and Thabit.
'Major was saying Reunert has brought people to kill him,' he told the court. He said all along he thought Maja was an army officer who was lapping it up but was shocked to discover that the man lived in a one-roomed house.They were at Mondira's place the following day. When Maja came, it was agreed that John should pay them when they got back to South Africa.
However, when it was time to pay the agreed amount, John came with the two police officers saying he was unable to give the agreed amount because the police officers also wanted to be paid.Singiombo said the deal got raw with Thabit calling John a greedy man, while John threatened to shoot Thabit and accused him of insulting him. He said in the end, after John paid him, he was forced to balance Thabit's share from his own.