Tshabalala‚ who evaded justice for years while working as a crime intelligence operative in Erasmuskloof in Tshwane‚ was arrested last Tuesday for allegedly stealing R563‚000 from the SAPS secret slush fund meant for operational purposes.
The 45-year-old officer‚ who is said to enjoy the protection of police top brass and senior politicians‚ is facing two charges of theft‚ two of fraud and one of corruption for allegedly using fraudulent invoices to claim money to install blinds in safe houses in two plush Pretoria suburbs‚ Waterkloof Heights and Brooklyn.
For 15 years‚ while serving as a crime intelligence operative‚ Tshabalala was on the run from a 10-year sentence for an armed robbery committed in Mamelodi in 1994.
He was convicted for the crime in 1996 but he appealed the conviction and sentence and then failed to hand himself over to prison authorities when his appeal was dismissed.
The police officer is on parole after being released in 2015 from the Groenpunt maximum security prison‚ where he was serving a 10-year sentence for armed robbery.
The state has welcomed the decision not to release Tshabalala on bail‚ saying he has previously evaded justice and that there was likelihood he will evade his trial if released on bail.
“We allege as the state that the accused before court is a habitual criminal and therefore there is a likelihood that he will continue engaging in criminal activities if he was released on bail and thirdly that there is a likelihood that he will intimidate state witnesses as they are known to him‚” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane.
The case was postponed to March for further investigation.
Captain KGB denied bail
Police crime intelligence agent Captain Morris “KGB” Tshabalala has been denied bail by the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria.
It was mainly his questionable past‚ evading justice for over 15 years for an armed robbery conviction while serving as a crime intelligence operative in the SAPS as well as his failure to voluntarily disclose this information that sank his bid for bail.
Magistrate Nicca Setshogoe on Friday also considered that Tshabalala was on parole and that he was likely to interfere with state witnesses after he had lied and said one of the state witnesses had passed away and that he had attended the funeral.
She said‚ based on Tshabalala’s past‚ there was no guarantee that he would adhere to the bail conditions and that the court had to consider the interests of justice against the rights of the accused.
“The applicant failed to discharge evidence that it is in the interest of justice that the applicant be released on bail‚” Setshogoe said.
Tshabalala‚ who evaded justice for years while working as a crime intelligence operative in Erasmuskloof in Tshwane‚ was arrested last Tuesday for allegedly stealing R563‚000 from the SAPS secret slush fund meant for operational purposes.
The 45-year-old officer‚ who is said to enjoy the protection of police top brass and senior politicians‚ is facing two charges of theft‚ two of fraud and one of corruption for allegedly using fraudulent invoices to claim money to install blinds in safe houses in two plush Pretoria suburbs‚ Waterkloof Heights and Brooklyn.
For 15 years‚ while serving as a crime intelligence operative‚ Tshabalala was on the run from a 10-year sentence for an armed robbery committed in Mamelodi in 1994.
He was convicted for the crime in 1996 but he appealed the conviction and sentence and then failed to hand himself over to prison authorities when his appeal was dismissed.
The police officer is on parole after being released in 2015 from the Groenpunt maximum security prison‚ where he was serving a 10-year sentence for armed robbery.
The state has welcomed the decision not to release Tshabalala on bail‚ saying he has previously evaded justice and that there was likelihood he will evade his trial if released on bail.
“We allege as the state that the accused before court is a habitual criminal and therefore there is a likelihood that he will continue engaging in criminal activities if he was released on bail and thirdly that there is a likelihood that he will intimidate state witnesses as they are known to him‚” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane.
The case was postponed to March for further investigation.