Former Prosecutor

Corrupt prosecutor Aaron Pule Mohanwe (35) jailed. Photo: Standerton Weekly/ IOL (Facebook).

Former prosecutor sentenced to 10 years for corruption

Former prosecutor Aaron Pule Mohanwe sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for accepting money for not enrolling drug-related cases

Former Prosecutor

Corrupt prosecutor Aaron Pule Mohanwe (35) jailed. Photo: Standerton Weekly/ IOL (Facebook).

A former prosecutor in Mpumalanga was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for committing fraud.

HOW THE FORMER PROSECUTOR WAS CAUGHT

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said the Standerton Magistrates’ Court convicted and sentenced a former District Court Control Prosecutor, Aaron Pule Mohanwe (35), to 10 years direct imprisonment, for two counts of corruption and defeating the administration of justice.

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“His conviction follows information which was received, that he was accepting money for not enrolling drug-related cases,” she revealed.

She added that undercover agents set up a trap for him, in terms of Section 252A of the Criminal Procedure Act.

“On one occasion, one of the agents was arrested and placed in the court cells and another agent then approached the accused, to find out what would he could do to help the arrested person.”

Monica
Former District Court Control Prosecutor Aaron Pule Mohanwe sentenced. Photo: Standerton Weekly/ Facebook.

PROSECUTOR FALLS FOR THE SET UP

She said the accused asked for money from the undercover agents, and they handed over the marked notes to him.

“This happened on two different occasions and the transactions were recorded by the agents. On another occasion, the accused requisitioned an awaiting trial prisoner for the purpose of court appearance for bail at the district court, when in fact he had no bail hearing scheduled at that stage and that case had already been transferred to the regional court. No prior permission was requested and obtained from the Senior Public Prosecutor to place the matter on the roll,” Monica explained.

She went on: “The accused never informed the investigating officers, whom he knew were vehemently opposed to the release of the accused on bail. Surprisingly, when he requisitioned the awaiting trial prisoner to appear in the district court, he informed the court that the investigating officers were not interested in opposing the bail application”.

“He knew that the information about the purported bail application was not given to the investigators.”

Monica

The prosecutor was arrested, prosecuted and eventually convicted on two counts of corruption and one count of defeating the administration of justice.

He was sentenced to 10 years of direct imprisonment for corruption, 10 years for another count of corruption and seven years for a count of defeating the ends of justice.

“The court ordered that the sentences for counts 2 and 3 run concurrently with the sentence on count 1. The effective sentence is 10 years direct imprisonment,” said Monica.

THE NPA REFLECTS ON THE CASE

“This is one of those cases where the NPA will not hesitate to institute criminal action against one of its own, in dealing with corruption and defeating the ends of justice. The NPA is resolute in reaffirming the rule of law, professionalism and accountability among all its employees, especially the prosecutors who are expected to stand for, and deliver justice; not work contrary to those values,” Monica reflected.

The accused was dismissed from service in the NPA July 2021.