Two men accused of pretending to be undercover police officers in a bid to defraud a lady out of almost P14, 000 were arraigned before Francistown Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
In attempting to pull-off their con, the duo, Itumeleng Mmolawa, 31, and Tawa Mosweu, 35, as well as a third man still on the loose, are said to have obtained an ID belonging to a cop at Tonota Police Station.
The officer had in fact reported his ID missing the week before.
Last Tuesday, the suspects are said to have approached one Dineo Tswee on the premise they were following up on allegations she had been involved in a theft.
According to Tonota Police Officer in Charge Criminal Investigation Department, Karabo Kgaodi, the fraudsters convinced Tswee to hand over her ATM Card and pin numbers.
“They told her they were investigating a case in which a customer had lost her money in a shop when Tswee had been present. After gaining her card and pin, they proceeded to cash P13, 850. That is when the complainant realised they were the thieves and reported the matter to us,” revealed Kgaodi, adding the boys in blue managed to arrest Mmolawa and Mosweu two days later.
However, they are yet to retrieve the stolen loot.
Meanwhile, the duo were charged with obtaining by false pretences.
Even though a third man remains at large, both Mmolawa, who resides in Gerald Estates and Mosweu, of Ditladi village, were granted bail, their freedom set at P2, 000 each.
This is the third case of people being scammed out of their money in Tonota recently.
In October, a 67-year-old woman was swindled out of P300, 000 by fake prophets, who claimed they were cleansing her money from demons. No arrests have yet been made in that case and the victim has not recovered a Thebe. An old man met a similar fate last month, tricked out of P10, 000 by conmen posing as prophets.