By BAKANG MOKOTO
10 December 2024- Lorato Junitor Motiki (45), who is employed as the Finance Clerk at the Lichtenburg Primary School, briefly appeared before the Lichtenburg Magistrate’s Court on 6 December 2024, to face 436 counts of fraud and theft. Motiki was arrested by the Mahikeng based Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit on 6 December 2024, following investigation on multiple counts of fraud she allegedly committed between November 2019 and June 2023.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson, Sivenathi Gunya said investigation revealed that, Motiki has on the said periods, made multiple transactions from the school’s bank account to her three various personal bank accounts, which she pretended they belonged to service providers, paying for services such as procurement of stationery, security, refunds, water and electricity rendered to the school.
Gunya said the reports further indicated that at times during the same period, she would defraud the school by creating forms requiring authorisation and signatures for release of funds for payment by the school when in reality, none of those services were rendered to the school.
“As a result, the school suffered a loss of over R2.4 million. She appeared before court and was released on R5000 bail. The matter was postponed to 28 January 2025, for the Specialised Commercial Crime Court appearance,” he said.
Meanwhile, the acting North West Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Brigadier Silas Munzhedzi and the Director of Public Prosecutions in North West, Dr Rachel Makhari, lauded the investigation and prosecution team for their relentless efforts in fighting criminality in government institutions.
The Guardian 