An employee at a sports betting company has been arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison for robbery.
The detention of the employee followed an armed robbery at the establishment, believed to have been planned by the employee.
Tshukudu Mokgele, who worked as a cleaner at the company when the robbery happened, was sentenced by the Kroonstad regional court on Wednesday.
According to Sergeant Josephine Rani, the 33-year-old and four of his accomplices planned the robbery.
“His accomplices gained entry to the premises as they were about to close and pointed a firearm at the people who were there, instructing them to lie down,” said Rani.
“The four accomplices took an undisclosed amount of money from the cashiers and five cellphones from other employees, subsequently fleeing the scene in a getaway car.”
The police said Mokgele, who was the fifth suspect and the mastermind behind the robbery, pretentiously acted surprised and left the scene.
“He was granted bail and an investigation later revealed that the mastermind behind the robbery was Mokgele.
“He was slapped with eight years of direct imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances by the Kroonstad regional court.”
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