Tumisang Makweya, affectionately known as Dr Tumi, and his wife Kgaogelo have been vindicated after their fraud case was dropped on Thursday.
Dr Tumi fraud: Why was the case dropped?
In a statement released by the gospel star’s record label, it’s confirmed that the hitmaker “walked out of Palm Ridge Commercial Crimes Court this morning a free man.”
“In their report, the NPA exonerated Dr Tumi and Kgaogelo. They indicated that after they had thoroughly considered the representations taking into account the contents of the case docket, the prosecutor’s report in response to the representations as well as the facts and circumstances relevant to the case the conclusion is that the charges be unconditionally withdrawn against Dr Tumi and his wife,” the statement read.
Dr Tumi, finally free from the clutches of the justice system, maintained his innocence, in response to the court outcome.
“From the onset we maintained our innocence because we did nothing wrong. Handing ourselves over to the authorities was not an admission of guilt, but was out of respect for law enforcement agencies to allow justice to take its course,” he said.
What was the couple accused of?
Before Thursday’s turn of events, the famous gospel couple had been released bail. It was alleged that Dr Tumi and his cohorts — his wife supposedly involved too — “allegedly altered information on the documents submitted to the National Lotteries in September 2018 that resulted in the amount of over R1.5 million being transferred into a private bank account.”
The Hawks claimed to have forensic evidence proving that the couple, who are members of a non-profit organisation, used their status in the committee to allegedly defraud the National Lotteries Commission of millions in a scam that involved altered financial and administrative documents.
Dr Tumi’s first court appearance was in May 2021. The matter dragged on for four months before the couple was exonerated.
“This morning we are vindicated, justice has been served, we have no case to answer to. We are thankful for the support and love from our family, friends, colleagues and the public at this time. We are turning back to life and pursuing our passions and look forward to putting this episode behind us. God bless you all,” the musician wrote.