Karabo Phungula, an imprisoned businessman based in Pretoria, has again chose not to leave his jail cell to appear in court.
Phungula was re-arrested by the Hawks on Monday and is awaiting sentencing after he was found guilty of illegal acquisition of personal and business data of numerous South Africans from a data services firm.
However, the awaiting trialist failed to show up for his court case on Thursday.
According to a police report, the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation acted on intelligence information and arrested Phungula following his failure to appear in court on several occasions for his sentencing.
Lieutenant-Colonel Philani Nkwalase said a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Palmridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on March 1.
“Phungula was found guilty by the same court in October 2022 for illegal acquisition of personal and business data of many South Africans from data services firm, Experian.
“The accused appeared in court on Monday, where he was remanded in custody for his next court appearance on Thursday for enquiries and further sentencing,” Nkwalase said.
“The case was remanded to March 24 for sentencing. The Hawks successfully opposed his bail bid as he has absconded several times before.”
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