Stokvel boss who took the Christmas money gets 10 years

A 31-year-old man who ran a “Christmas” stokvel in Bloemfontein and Botshabelo and vanished when the time came to hand over the goods has been sentenced to an effective 10 years in prison.

Lebohang Mokatedi was sentenced by the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Thursday, 15 October 2026, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement. He had been convicted on 8 October 2026 on multiple counts of fraud, theft and money laundering.

The court imposed 15 years’ imprisonment, of which five years are wholly suspended for five years, on condition that he is not convicted of the same offence during the period of suspension. He will therefore serve 10 years’ direct imprisonment.

His company, Lebohang Society and Financial Credit Service (Pty) Ltd, was sentenced to a R1 million fine, wholly suspended for five years on condition that it is not convicted of a cybercrime-related fraud offence during the period of suspension.

The scheme dates to 2024, when Mokatedi introduced the stokvel and drew members in with the promise of groceries, alcoholic beverages, household items and relish ingredients at the end of the year. Members paid in monthly amounts ranging from R100 to R500.

Several people from Bloemfontein and Botshabelo joined and kept up their contributions. When the time came to deliver, Mokatedi disappeared and failed to honour the arrangements made with the members, according to the police account.

Victims opened cases of fraud and theft at various police stations in Bloemfontein and Botshabelo. Detectives in the two towns investigated at first before the matters were handed to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit in Bloemfontein. That investigation led to Mokatedi’s arrest in East London in the Eastern Cape.

The Free State provincial commissioner, Lieutenant General Solly Lesia, and the provincial head of the Hawks, Major General Mokgadi Bokaba, welcomed the sentencing and commended the investigating team, made up of the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation in Bloemfontein together with detectives from Bloemspruit and Botshabelo, for what the statement described as a thorough investigation and for ensuring justice was served to the victims of the fraudulent scheme.

The account of the scheme, the arrest and the sentence comes from the SAPS media statement on the case (https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=71882). The statement is a police summary of the matter and the sentencing, not the court record itself.

Enquiries on the case are directed to Warrant Officer Fikiswa Matoti on 082 465 5951.