The Independent Democrats will be laying a charge of fraud against one of its former parliamentary candidates, a party spokesman said on Saturday."ID secretary-general Haniff Hoosen will this afternoon lay fraud charges against Shan Mohangi," said ID spokesman Steven Otter in a statement.
Mohangi "failed to declare to the ID his conviction for a murder he committed in Ireland in 1963," added Otter.
On Saturday, the Saturday Star reported that Mohangi had changed his name to Narentuk Jumuna after he was deported to South Africa from Ireland. He had only served four years of his seven-year sentence for murdering his then girlfriend.
"When I confronted him in order to expel him from the party, he instantly said he was no longer standing for public office and that he had resigned his membership of the party," Hoosen told Sapa.
"When we draw up our lists we face a real dilemma in that we are unable to gain access to the criminal records of an individual without their permission."
"We are therefore forced to trust an applicant to declare his criminal record on the candidacy application form, something that Mohangi failed to do," said Hoosen.
Hoosen expressed gratitude, on behalf of the ID, to the journalists at the Saturday Star for exposing Mohangi's past.
Source : Sapa /ts/vm/ml
Date : 21 Mar 2009 18:08
