Man caught for impersonating a lawyer in Bethal, must pay back the money
After Doctor Sobetha (32) was granted bail last year, he fled but the Hawks tracked him down in Durban last month.
A bogus lawyer was instructed yesterday (June 5) to pay back R40 000 that he took from a client in Bethal in 2019.
Doctor Sobetha (32) who impersonated a lawyer trying to conduct a bail application for his client charged with murder, pleaded guilty in the Bethal Magistrate’s Court. was sentenced to four years imprisonment with an option to pay R20 000 fine. Two of the four years were was suspended for five years on condition that he is not found guilty of a similar offense.
The Mpumalanga spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Lieutenant-Colonel Magonseni Nkosi, said the court further ordered Sobetha to pay back R40 000 that was unlawfully received from his client. He is expected to pay back the money in monthly instalments of R3 000 until the last cent is paid up.
Sobetha was caught out in 2019 when the state prosecutor in the high-profile murder case picked up from his arguments that something was off. Sobetha could not provide proof when asked before court if he was indeed a legal practitioner.
The Secunda based Serious Organised Crime Investigation members who were in court for the pending murder case, arrested Sobetha. The matter was referred to the Hawks Secunda-based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation for further investigation.
Sobetha fled when he was granted bail in 2024.
“Investigation led members of the Hawks’ Tactical Operations Management System (TOMS) to Durban, where Sobetha was arrested on May 22.
“He was brought back to Mpumalanga, where he appeared before Bethal Magistrate’s Court on May 30,” said Nkosi. The case was postponed to yesterday.
Nkosi said immediately after his sentence was handed down, Sobetha was rearrested for fraud committed in Moroka, Gauteng, in 2023.
The Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Major General Nico Gerber warned people to consult with registered legal advisors.
“It is concerning if people are defrauded by people like Sobetha whose formal education does not even go beyond high school level,” concluded the General.
