By Kaya 959 Reporter
The R45 million fraud case against an attorney will continue in the East London Regional Court.
Attorney Zuko Nonxuba and his alleged accomplice, Nzimeni Hendrew Deda, asked the court to acquit them of the fraud charges. The court this week denied their application.
NPA spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani says the state closed its case in February. The defense was supposed to commence with its case on Tuesday.
“The defense instead applied to have the case discharged claiming that the state failed to prove its case against the accused. The prosecutor, Advocate Luthando Makoyi, opposed the application and argued that the accused had a case to answer to.
“The court dismissed the application on the basis that the alleged fraudulent claims were indeed served to the Bhisho and Mthatha High Courts and to the office of the MEC for Health,” Ngcakani explains.
The case was postponed to 17 and 18 March 2022 for the defense to commence with its case.
Nonxuba is the Director of Nonxuba Incorporated, a law firm based in Gauteng.
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During the alleged commission of the crimes, Deda allegedly acted as Nonxuba’s agent to commit fraud.
It is alleged that the attorney either personally or through Deda approached three Eastern Cape parents with disabled and medically impaired children.
This was allegedly done to unlawfully lodge civil claims of medical negligence against the Eastern Cape Department of Health. These were to be separate claims.
“In exchange for their cooperation, Nonxuba allegedly made promises to the parents which included providing them with cash, building them houses and providing international medical care for their children,” Ngcakani said.
It is alleged that the parents who were approached did not have legitimate claims as their children’s disabilities and medical impediments could not be attributed to the ECDoH. The children were allegedly not born in hospitals but at their parental homes.
The NPA alleges that Nonxuba, however, informed the parents that they had legitimate claims and were entitled to payments from the ECDoH as relief for their children’s conditions.
“Subsequently, between November 2015 and April 2016, Nonxuba allegedly issued summons against the ECDoH claiming a total amount of R45 279 000 on behalf of the three parents,” Ngcakani says.
He allegedly claimed R15 093 000 on behalf of each parent. The claims were contested by the department and as a result no settlements were made. The department would have suffered a total loss of just over R45,2 million.
“Nonxuba has also been charged with fraud for a different case in Mthatha. He is accused of fraud which amounts to R45 million. The next court date for the Mthatha matter will be on 3 December for arguments,” the NPA says.
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