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Bogus lawyer sentenced to 20 years in prison after R1 million scam
The Star
|September 17, 2025
THE Rustenburg Magistrate's Court in the North West has sentenced a bogus lawyer to 20 years’ imprisonment after scamming unsuspecting victims over R1 million.
Kagiso Josias Selomane, 45, ran his scam between 2011 and 2015 where he masqueraded as a legal practitioner in courts across the North West and Johannesburg, Gauteng.
Sivenathi Gunya, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, said Selomane misled victims into believing that he was a qualified lawyer who could represent them in divorce and labour matters and even pretended to be an executor of a major bank.
“His modus operandi was to demand upfront payments for legal services that he never provided. In some cases, he duped clients into sitting in empty courtrooms, claiming their cases had been postponed, while in reality, no proceedings had been scheduled.
“Over the four years, Selomane siphoned off more than R1m from unsuspecting victims,’ said Selomane.
This story is from the September 17, 2025 edition of The Star.
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