Victoria Tepo (47), a court interpreter from the North West, who asked for a bribe to make a dossier disappear, was sentenced to four years imprisonment for corruption in the Lichtenburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
According to Henry Mamothame, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), in August 2016 Tepo and her accomplice – who died during the trial – asked a complainant for an amount of R5 000 to make a dossier disappear.
The Hawks’ serious corruption unit set a trap and this led to the rapid arrest of Tepo and her accomplice, says Mamothame.
Tepo was subsequently found guilty of corruption and sentenced to four years in prison, half of which was suspended for five years. She therefore had to serve two years of direct imprisonment.
Maj. Gen. Patrick Mbotho, provincial head of the Falcons, and Dr. Rachel Makhari, Director of Public Prosecutions in the North West, welcomed the sentence and pledged that her department will act firmly to punish those involved in corrupt activities.
