The Bloemfontein’s famous job seeker is set for another stay in prison for allegedly continuing with his criminal syndicate after he conned another job seeker.
The accused, Ishmael Mongezi Fihla (43) appeared before the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 03 January , where he faced charges of fraud, corruption and extortion.
This comes after the victim approached the offices of the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation in Bloemfontein and reported that Fihla had promised to secure a job for him at the local municipality in Bloemfontein in exchange for money.
Fihla was arrested in a sting operation on Friday, 31 August 2021 after R3000-00 in cash was recovered from his possession.
The case against Fihla has been remanded to Monday, 10 January 2022 for a formal bail application.
In 2019, Fihla ran a criminal syndicate posing as the Mangaung Metro Municipality smokescreen to defraud desperate job seekers.
He used the pseudonym to identify himself as Matenchi, working under the municipality’s human resources coordinator, where he invited applicants to job interviews and demanding R4 000 to secure them jobs.
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