A disbarred lawyer, Emoldah Manamela, is facing a growing list of fraud charges after allegedly scamming prospective home buyers out of their savings. Manamela, a former conveyancing lawyer, appeared in the Pretoria magistrate's court yesterday, where the state revealed that five additional charges of fraud would be added to her case. She already faces charges related to defrauding eight victims, who have opened criminal cases against her, for incidents that occurred between 2019 and 2022.
The state prosecutor, Chris Maruma, informed the court that Manamela had four outstanding warrants of arrest against her that had not yet been effected. Maruma requested a postponement for further investigation, stating, "I have spoken to the investigating officer and he has indicated that the accused will be charged with the other five matters [on Tuesday] and this week they will consolidate other matters." The state opposed bail, and Magistrate Aubrey Mphahlele postponed the matter to December 15, remanding Manamela in custody.
Manamela's arrest followed her being handed over to the Lyttleton police station by her husband, who is a police officer. Following her arrest, police district spokesperson Captain Johan van Dyk urged anyone who may have been targeted as a victim by Manamela to come forward to the police.
According to the charge sheet, Manamela is alleged to have stolen a total of R580,000 from three clients who were either buying or selling houses in the Pretoria area between 2019 and 2020. The five new cases to be added to the charge sheet involve a sum of approximately R600,000. The charge sheet details specific instances, including one in May 2019 where she allegedly defrauded a client of R170,000, and another in August of the same year where she defrauded a victim of R260,000. A third charge relates to the period between April and October 2020, where she allegedly defrauded a client of R150,000.
A source close to the investigation revealed that Manamela had been evading arrest since 2021 and could possibly be linked to more than 20 cases that were opened in Sunnyside. "Investigators believe that she is a person of interest in those cases," the source stated.
The Legal Practice Council (LPC) confirmed that Manamela was struck off the roll of qualified practitioners in October 2022 for several transgressions.
One of Manamela's victims, a teacher from Limpopo, is now burdened with a R192,000 debt after taking out a loan to purchase a house advertised in Soshanguve. The teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, explained that he continues to pay R4,000 monthly to settle the debt for a house he does not own, after allegedly being defrauded by Manamela.
Speaking to Sowetan, the teacher recounted how his wife, who worked at Tembisa Hospital, saw an advertisement for a house being sold in Soshanguve, Tshwane. "I then reached out to Scorpion because I was represented by them at the time. I told them about my interest in the house and that I had been dealing with a conveyancer [Manamela]. Scorpion advised me to check with the LPC [Legal Practice Council] on Manamela’s standing as a lawyer. LPC confirmed that Manamela was a legit lawyer," he said.
The property he intended to buy was an RDP house valued at R180,000. Manamela instructed him to pay an additional R25,000 for the transfer of ownership. "I then paid her R192,000 which I had taken as a loan and I was expected to move in on October 15 in 2021," he explained. "I paid because I had gone to view the house twice before and nothing seemed dodgy."
However, seven days before his scheduled move-in date, the teacher received an anonymous call informing him that he had been scammed. "That is when I went to the house and found an old lady I had not seen before in my previous visits. She said she knew nothing about Manamela and the house being sold," he said. He immediately reported the matter to the police, but progress was slow. Initially, he was paying R7,000 towards the loan, but he had to renegotiate the agreement to R4,000 per month to support his family.
Follow Us on Twitter
