Well you certainly have to give this chap 100% marks for iniative! How sad though that the Department of Corrections has absolutely no idea about what is happening within the confines of their prisons. You know that there is a problem when the prisoners - inside are running more successful businesses than the legitimate people on the outside!
Fraudster runs job scam from jail cell
Lee Rondganger
December 18 2006 at 05:09AM
A convicted fraudster is running a scam from his prison cell that is duping hundreds of people - using four legitimate companies and an unwitting law firm. Speta Johannes Molokeng has been operating a money-spinning marketing business from C-section of Vereeniging Prison for the past three years. Better known as prisoner 98531218, he has fraudulently used the names of law firms across the country to place numerous ads in newspapers, hoping to recruit 40 000 matriculant marketers and drivers for his four companies. However, he has not been paying for the adverts, and applicants responding to them were required to pay a fee before they started working.
'When I got there the guys shook my hand and congratulated me'
Molokeng is the owner of the companies - South African National Music Activities Brothers cc, Transport Activities Societies of South Africa cc, Sports Activities of South Africa cc and Taxi Tyre Supplies cc. They are registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office but could not be tracked down as they had only postal addresses.
Molokeng was arrested in 2002 for fraud. He was convicted a year later and sentenced to 12 years behind bars. Since then he has incurred more than R40 000 worth of advertising debt with Independent Newspapers alone. Pieter van der Riet, an attorney at Lionel Murray Schwormstedt and Louw, given the task of retrieving the money owed to Independent Newspapers, said they were surprised when they tracked down Molokeng to prison. "Initially we thought he had placed the ads before he went to prison, but as more of these debts arrived, we realised he was placing them while in prison."
'How can an employee be expected to buy his boss airtime?'
Last month, Molokeng got SPS Associates - a Vereeniging-based law firm - to place two advertisements in the Workplace section of Independent Newspapers, saying he needed 40 000 marketing agents and drivers to work at South African National Music Activities Brothers. The company would provide 90 days of "consultation training", according to the advert. Successful candidates would get a monthly salary of R5 000, plus R2 500 commission.
SPS Associates admitted to doing work for Molokeng's companies but said their relationship was legitimate. Leon Kruger, a senior attorney at the firm, said they had been taking instructions from their client, a Mr PA van der Walt - a representative for Molokeng's companies. Although they checked the status of the companies, Kruger said he was not aware they were owned by Molokeng.
Clement Mmetle, a Johannesburg furniture salesperson, is one person who answered an ad. He said he had received a phone call from SPS telling him that his application was successful and that he was being appointed general manager of Molokeng's four companies. He was asked to visit SPS to receive a letter of appointment. "When I got there the guys shook my hand and congratulated me. I found it a bit strange because not once was I interviewed for the job."
He then got a call from Molokeng, who congratulated him and told him he was in prison. "He told me that I was the right person for the job and asked me to buy him R200 Telkom airtime. "I don't know why, but I bought it for him. However, I became very suspicious when after a few days he wanted me to buy him more airtime. "How can an employee be expected to buy his boss airtime? I then decided that I was not going to take the job."
Mmetle's letter of appointment, on an SPS Associates letterhead, said he would receive a salary of R7 500 plus allowances for a car, hotel room, clothing and phone. But the job was conditional on his recruiting 200 matriculated marketing agents - each of whom had to pay a fee of R364,80 into a trust account managed by SPS.
While the appointment letter said Mmetle would be general manager of all of Molokeng's companies, Kruger said they did work only for Sports Activities Agency. "We have charged fees for work done.. had interviews for the appointment of persons... and confirmed their appointment on our letterhead," said Kruger. "As far as we are aware, the whole matter is legitimate and refers to training people for marketing."
Puleng Mokhoane, spokesperson for the Free State Correctional Services, said they would investigate Molokeng's activities. It was illegal to run a business from prison, she added.
This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on December 18, 2006
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