Ace Magashuleâs former bodyguard gets 15 years in jail for stealing Pierneef painting
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Cape Town - ANC secretary-general Ace Magashuleâs former bodyguard has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for stealing an R 8 million painting.
Ricardo Mettler, who was Magashuleâs bodyguard during his term as the Free State premier, was found guilty on four charges relating to the Pierneef painting.
In the Bloemfontein High Court on Wednesday, Judge Soma Naidoo sentenced Mettler to an additional 15 years for money laundering for offering the painting to a Chinese businessman as a guarantee for a loan, said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Magashule s former driver sentenced to 15 years Updated
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Judge Naidoo handed down a 15-year prison sentence for theft, 15 years for money laundering, 15 years for fraud, and 12 years for perjury. Counts 2 and 4 are set to run concurrently.
GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP
The former driver of Ace Magashule, Ricardo Mettler, has been sentenced to an effective 15-year jail sentence by a High Court judge in Bloemfontein on Wednesday morning.
Judge Soma Naidoo says Mettler s failure to take the witness stand to place his version of events before the court did not draw confidence from the court.
She says Mettler, despite the court s findings, continues to disrespect the evidence presented in court, showed no remorse and failed to take responsibility.
Ace Magashule’s former driver gets 15 years in jail for stealing R8m painting 10 March 2021 - 11:28 Ricardo Mettler, once driver and bodyguard for former Free State premier Ace Magashule, was convicted of stealing this R8m Pierneef painting. Image: @PLMyburgh via Twitter
A man employed as Ace Magashule’s bodyguard when he was premier of the Free State has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing a Pierneef painting worth R8m.
Ricardo Mettler, 43, was sentenced in the Bloemfontein high court on Wednesday.
He was found guilty of theft, money laundering and fraud in December last year. Mettler was also found guilty of making a false statement to the police in which he said Magashule gave him the painting as a present.
A court in South Africa on Wednesday sentenced a former bodyguard of South African politician and an anti-apartheid activist, Ace Magashule to 15 years in jail for stealing a painting worth R8 million, over K410 Million.
Ricardo Mettler has also been handed another 15 years for money laundering after he offered the Pierneef painting to a Chinese businessman as a guarantee for a loan.
A statement by the police said: âThe court added another 15 years for fraud. He pretended that the painting was donated to him by Magashule, and that it legally belonged to him. In addition, Judge Naidoo sentenced Mettler to 12 months for making a false statement to the police, in which he said Magashule gave him the painting.â
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