Ringleaders of the Post Office robbery scheme turned to the SCA, maintaining their innocence.
One of the ringleaders behind a South African Post Bank scam and subsequent robberies, as well as another accused who was sentenced to hefty jail terms more than a decade ago, has after all these years turned to the Supreme Court of Appeal, where they maintained their innocence.
Maxam Onasis, who had been the ringleader, was convicted by the Gauteng High Court on 48 charges and sentenced to an effective 23 years' imprisonment. Bongani Nkosi, who was not a Post Office worker, was sentenced to an effective 20 years on 37 convictions, and both turned to the SCA.
In a judgment, penned by Judge Phillip Coppin, the SCA confirmed that there was a criminal enterprise behind the series of Post Office robberies. While the court did find in their favour on a few of the many charges, the effective sentences of both men remain exactly the same.
The high court earlier heard evidence that members of a syndicate carried out daring robberies at nine SA Post Office branches around Johannesburg, involving around R2million fraudulent activities.
