A Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court prosecutor, Advocate Avinash Ramapararat, has been released on R5,000 after he was charged with corruption and extortion.
Ramapararat, 45, was released alongside two police officers stationed at Wierdabrurg Police Station, Sergeant Herman Matsabane Mnguni, 46, and constable Abdul Haig Shaik, 35.
The officers were also released in R5,000 bail each after appearing at the Pretoria Magistrates Court on Monday.
They were released on conditions that they don’t interfere with witnesses and investigations.
The trio is facing two counts of extortion and two counts of corruption.
They allegedly extorted money from a businessman who is the complainant in the matter.
The businessman was arrested and charged with fraud on June 28, 2024.
Gauteng spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Lumka Mahanjana said after his arrest, it’s alleged that Ramapararat and Shaik requested the businessman to pay them R300,000 in exchange for his release.
“The businessman called his business partner who subsequently paid them. After they were persistent and asking for money after his release, the complainant reported the matter to the police,” said Mahanjana.
The anti-corruption unit set a trap where the complainant paid R100,000 to Mnguni.
The trap led to the arrest of the two police officers on October 25 and 26, 2024.
The prosecutor was arrested a couple of days later on October 31.
Their matter was postponed to February 17, 2025.
Mahanjana said the NPA was committed in fighting corruption at all levels, including within its own ranks.
IOL News