Following his arrest on theft charges by the Hawks’ serious corruption investigation in East London, Masixole Bangiso of Masixole Bangiso Attorneys appeared in court on Monday.
The complainant allegedly spent five weeks in Frere Hospital after being seriously injured in a car accident in 2021 while riding in a bakkie.
As a result of her injuries, the complainant was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
She allegedly went to Masixole Bangiso Attorney to file a Road Accident Fund (RAF) claim after being discharged from the hospital.
To show the extent of her injuries, Bangiso took the complainant to a professional.
The complainant deemed his application for R550 000 to be a reasonable offer for damages, and Bangiso submitted it to the RAF after that.
The complaint states that she was told in June 2023 that her claim would not be paid until December 2023.
In addition, the complaint claimed that she called Bangiso on January 3, 2024, to find out the status of the claim because she had lost her brother and needed to use the money to help with funeral expenses.
Funds paid into lawyer’s account
“Bangiso is reported to have confirmed payment of the money to his trust account by RAF but failed to transfer the funds to the complainant’s account,” said the police.
Instead, he kept on making excuses to the client.
“The complainant further approached the legal counsel for assistance, where it was confirmed that the claim of an amount of R550 000 was indeed paid to Masixole Bangiso’s trust account on 3 January 2024.”
It is said that Bangiso paid the client R500 000 after consulting with the legal counsel.
The Hawks’ investigation established that the money was a claim that the RAF had settled on behalf of Bangiso’s other client.
“Bangiso was arrested on Monday as a result of the Road Accident Fund being deprived of funds worth over R1-million during these two transactions.”
He was released on R4 000 bail, and the case has been remanded to October 11.
