MBOMBELA – A well-known local pub owner and businessman played a key role in the arrest of two alleged fraudsters on Wednesday. The vigilant Mr Chris Naudé, owner of Marlin Pub & Grill and Phat Boys, pretended to be in cahoots with the men as part of a Hawks sting operation.
The men are accused of tampering with electricity meters in Mbombela and White River, resulting in property owners being charged half of their monthly electricity usage.
As a reward for their skills, the “technicians” would pocket the cash value of the other half.
Lowvelder sat down with Naudé, who explained his involvement in the sting.
“Last week I was approached by someone working for Africa Meter Readers, a company that does meter readings on contract for Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM),” he said.
“Knowing that I have the two businesses in town, they asked me whether I would like to cut my electricity bills in half. I immediately knew that this was a scam,” he said.
However, Naudé accepted the offer and turned the alleged scammers into the victims of their own scheme.
After admitting the total of his monthly electricity bill, Naudé was asked to pay R4 500 to have his home’s meter tampered with and the account slashed by half. The same applied to Marlin’s and Phat Boys’ meters.
He asked for a discount and was told that he would only have to pay R3 000 per property.
“By that time I had alerted Mr Albert Gryvenstein of Bossies Community Justice as to what was happening. He connected me with the Hawks,” said Naudé. “They arranged with me to meet them and I was handed the cash I would require.”
Armed with his monetary bait, Naudé drove to Marlin’s where the first of his electricity meters would be rigged. The men performed the service and were on their way from Marlin’s when the Hawks arrested them.
They appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court yesterday and were identified as Mr Nkosi Sicelo and Mr Thorn Mokoena.
The case was postponed, but the date of their next appearance was not available at the time of going to press.
While Sicelo and Mokoena appeared in court, MLM’s fraud division visited the pub and the electricity meter was reset to bill Naudé fully.
According to a municipality official who may not be named, the same men targeted other businesses in the city, including the Methodist Church.
When Lowvelder contacted the church to confirm the accusation, it was denied and the paper was referred to Mr Jo Koster, who was not available at the time of going to press.
Mr Joseph Ngala, MLM spokesman could also not be reached to confirm whether Africa Meter Readers was one of the municipality’s service providers.
According to the company’s head office, it serves MLM.
The manager of the local branch, Mr Charles Ratchidi, confirmed the arrest of Sicelo and Mokoena.
