The suspects, aged between 36 and 61, were arrested in connection with fraudulent claims made at the Kimberley Master of the High Court office back in August 2015. The Hawks spokesperson, Nomthandazo Mnisi, says the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in Pretoria received a complaint regarding the fraudulent claims and according to some of the interest-bearing cards, there was money paid to the suspects which appeared to be claimed later by the guardians of the beneficiaries.

She says the main suspect is a former employee at the Kimberley Master of the High Court and is accused of assisting four other co-accused to fraudulently claim the funds, which resulted in the department suffering a loss of over R850 000. Mnisi says all the accused were granted bail following their brief appearance earlier today.

OFM News previously reported that the five suspects’ court appearance comes soon after an assistant at the Master of the High Court in Kimberley was granted R4 000 bail last week following his arrest.

Method Nkongani Gqetywa (49) appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate's Court last week Friday after his arrest on Thursday.

It is alleged that he extorted an amount of about R15 000 as a bribe to assist two women who had approached the court to claim a deceased's estate.

The case against Gqetywa was postponed to August 29 for further investigations.

 OFM News