A 56-year-old man from the Eastern Cape, Zamile Nongogo, has been handed a six-year suspended prison sentence for orchestrating a R600,000 vehicle finance scam—but the legal troubles for the convicted fraudster are far from over.
The East London Commercial Crimes Court delivered the sentence on condition that Nongogo does not commit any similar offence during the suspension period. While this grants him freedom for now, he remains behind bars as he faces additional fraud-related charges in separate ongoing cases.
Nongogo was arrested in October 2019 by the Hawks, who uncovered that he and accomplice Thobani Mabizela had been running a fraudulent scheme from January 2018 to February 2019. The pair submitted false payslips and supporting documents to a financial institution in East London to help ineligible applicants secure vehicle financing—costing the institution hundreds of thousands of rands.
“Supporting documents were submitted to a financial institution, allowing the accused to defraud the system,” said Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana, confirming the scale of the deception.
In addition to the suspended sentence, the court declared Nongogo unfit to possess a firearm—a standard ruling in financial crime convictions involving fraud and deceit.
Though spared immediate imprisonment, Nongogo’s legal battles continue as authorities pursue additional cases against him, raising the possibility of further penalties ahead.
