MIDDELBURG – A Middelburg lawyer accused of embezzling Road Accident Fund (RAF) funds meant for a child remains in custody after failing to appear in court.
Jo-Anne Mantladi Mmela (42) was rearrested on 24 February 2024 following the issuance of a warrant for her arrest by the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 5 December 2022 due to her non-appearance.
She made an appearance on 26 February 2023, and the case was adjourned to 4 March 2024 for a formal bail application.
Mmela was apprehended by the Hawks on 20 September 2022 after an investigation into fraud and theft involving RAF funds. She appeared before the Middelburg Magistrates’ Court on 21 September 2022 and was granted bail of R25,000.
The proceedings were then postponed to 5 December 2022 for further investigations, but she absconded and failed to appear in court on the scheduled date.
According to the Hawks, Mmela, who owned a law practice named Mmela and Associates, was tasked with handling a RAF claim on behalf of the complainant’s child.
“The accused submitted the claim to the RAF, the claim was processed, and payments were made into her trust account,” said Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson Lucy Sekgotodi. ” The accused redirected the money to someone else’s account and claimed to have made the payments into the victim’s guardian account.”
She remains in custody pending a formal bail application scheduled for 25 March 2024.
