A former law student – facing fraud charges for forging an East London judge’s signature in a fake order directing a medical aid scheme to pay out a huge sum to a family member – was arrested last week four years after escaping from the law, notes a Daily Dispatch report. Sonwabile Mtongana (36) – a then second-year law student from Unisa and an intern at Ndzamela Attorneys in Mthatha – went into hiding shortly after he was caught for the crime in 2012.

He was arrested by the Hawks Eastern Cape commercial crime wing in Johannesburg last week and appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. He appeared in the East London Magistrate’s Court yesterday. He was released on bail of R3 000 and is scheduled to reappear on 15 December.

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