South Africa’s high-flying couple, who splashed large amounts of money on houses and cars went to sleep in their jail cells facing 14 counts relating to fraud and money-laundering on Wednesday, only to wake up facing 35 counts.
This was revealed to the pair, – Charlotte Tibana and her husband Peter “Gagash” Nonyane when they appeared in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Thursday afternoon.
The two face charges of fraud, money-laundering and contravening provisions of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act connected to now more than R6 million involving money belonging to Tibana’s clients, who hired her to provide legal services and execution of their deceased loved ones’ estates.
The families have been coming forward with information following the couple’s arrests this month, when their attempt to purchase a Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG at the Mercedes-Benz Dealership in Wonderboom, Pretoria, backfired in October 2024.
READ: Peter ‘Gagash’ Nonyane tried to buy R1.65m G-Wagon like ‘loaf of bread’
Their legal representative was in court when the new counts were read out to the pair. He concurred that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had alerted him of the new counts and could only say, “We will deal with them during trial.”
The work at hand was to ensure that his clients are released on bail. However, things have taken a turn for the worse with the state opposing bail and the new counts now being added. The counts include acting in common purpose, meaning although Tibana was the lawyer responsible for the estate millions belonging to her clients, Nonyane is accused of working with her to spend the money on their personal lives.
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“The State alleges that the accused persons acted with common intent and for the furtherance of common purpose and contravened Section 4 read with Section 1 and 8 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act by concealing and/or disguising nature or source of possession of [a large amount],” the State read out each additional charge.
The amounts are said to have flowed into different accounts for the benefit of the two.
- Charlotte Tibana and Peter "Gagash" Nonyane appeared in Polokwane Magistrate's Court facing 35 counts related to fraud and money laundering, increased from the initial 14 counts.
- The charges involve fraud, money laundering, and contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act concerning over R6 million belonging to Tibana's clients.
- The money was linked to clients who hired Tibana for legal services and managing deceased estates, with families providing information after the couple's October 2024 arrest.
- The National Prosecuting Authority informed the couple's legal representative of the additional charges, which include acting in common purpose to spend client money on their personal lives.
- Despite efforts to secure bail, the state opposed their release following the addition of new charges, with allegations of concealing or disguising the source of the funds.
