A former warrant police officer has been sentenced for fraud despite continued efforts to have him evicted when he was occupying a state house illegally.
“He collected monthly rent payments, unlawfully, from five tenants that amounted to R75 000. The 66-year-old Manie Richard Williams was sentenced on 8 May in the Welkom Regional Court,” says Capt. Stephen Thakeng, media liaison officer for the Lejweleputswa police.
Thakeng says a case of fraud was registered during May 2023 after it was discovered that a police state house in Fischer Street, Dagbreek, Welkom, was occupied illegally.
“Apparently, the 66-year-old pensioner has been collecting rental payments from tenants since 2018. The case was assigned to Sgt Vusimuzi Ngomane of the provincial Anti-Corruption unit to conduct a thorough investigation,” says Thakeng.
Williams was arrested on 21 June near the Dagbreek Shopping Complex in Welkom. He was granted bail of R1 000 on 3 July.
For two counts of fraud, the pensioner was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, suspended for four years on condition that he is not convicted of fraud, theft, or attempted theft during the period of suspension.
Williams was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
