A well-known 43-year-old attorney and his three administrators, between the ages 33 and 35, were arrested by the Nelspruit Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit on Thursday May 2 for fraud.

According to the provincial Hawks’ spokesperson, Captain Dineo Sekgotodi, the unit had received some complaints regarding estates administered by the suspects for more than three years. According to the complainants, they never received any payouts.

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“An investigation was carried forward. It was established that the attorney was not legitimate, but through his administrators, they could recruit unsuspecting persons in the process of winding up their estates by going to the Master of the High Court to obtain letters of executors. After receiving money for the winding up of the estate, they kept it for themselves without transferring it to the beneficiaries,” she said.

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Sekgotodi added that the investigation was finalised and warrants of arrest were authorised and executed on May 2. The four detained suspects are expected to make their first appearance in the Nelspruit District Court on Friday May 3.