5 June 2025 – Thabo Enoch Theletsane, 41, appeared briefly at the Hatfield Magistrate’s Court, facing charges of fraud and impersonating a police officer. The case stems from an elaborate scam he allegedly conducted while on parole for previous fraud convictions.
According to Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, the alleged incident began on 25 October 2024. Theletsane reportedly used a WhatsApp number with the profile photo of former DPCI (Hawks) head, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, to contact a prominent businessman.
He allegedly told the businessman that his phone had been hacked and that a supposed cybercrime officer named “Mokoena” would follow up. Theletsane, impersonating Mokoena, then contacted the victim again and claimed he needed to “clean” the hacked device.
The suspect reportedly requested a list of frequently contacted numbers, which the businessman provided. Posing as a helpful officer, Theletsane also asked for a payment to purchase a hard drive to store the complainant’s data. Although no payment was made at that time, he used the obtained contacts to approach another victim.
In this second scam, Theletsane allegedly repeated the same story and managed to convince the second complainant to pay R50,000 for a supposed hard drive.
Once both victims realized they had been defrauded, they reported the incidents to police on 1 November 2024. After a thorough investigation, Theletsane was arrested on 10 May 2025 and remains in custody.
In court, the matter was postponed to 7 July 2025 for an opposed bail application. Authorities have confirmed that additional charges will be filed as the investigation continues.
