A Mpumalanga attorney (44) has been sentenced to 10 years’ direct imprisonment for stealing R3.3m RAF money, which includes a R1.4m payout for a child who had been injured in a crash.

The Middelburg Serious Commercial Crimes Court handed down the sentence on Thursday, concluding a complex investigation that began with her arrest in September 2022, reports TimesLIVE.

Instead of transferring the funds to the child’s guardian, Mmela redirected the money to another individual’s account and falsely claimed to have paid the guardian.

According to Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Thandi Tshabalala, a complaint had been laid against Jo-Anne Mmela, who at the time practised under Mmela and Associates.

Mmela was arrested on 20 September 2022 and appeared in the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court the next day, where she was granted R25 000 bail.

‘The case was then postponed to 5 December 2022 for further investigation and that’s when the accused disappeared and failed to appear on the given date.'

‘The accused was traced and arrested around Pretoria,’ she said.

According to Tshabalala, while she was in custody, more victims who Mmela had defrauded of R1.2m, R200 000 and R550 000 also came forward and their cases were joined with the child’s.

Full TimesLIVE report