By A Correspondent- South African based businessman Sam Mshengu Chabalala has been remanded in custody to 21 February for a formal bail application over charges of allegedly trying to bribe a police officer into releasing an impounded vehicle and making a 2019 case disappear.

Mshengu was arrested on Thursday by the Hawks over corruption charges.

Hawks Spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi told the media that,”The businessman who was initially arrested last year and subsequently charged for fraud, corruption, and possession of an unlicensed firearm had been out on R200,000 bail following his arrest [last year in September] in Nelspruit.

“His latest arrest emanates from allegations that he attempted to corrupt a senior police official in Mpumalanga to get his impounded motor vehicle to be released and also to make his initial case disappear.”

Mshengu was alleged to have paid an R120,000 bribe to the officer.

If found guilty, Chabalala stands to not only lose the R120,000 “bribe” but also his luxury vehicle.

In 2019 the Hawks alleged that Mshengu was a Zimbabwean who had fraudulently acquired a South African ID.

“We found out that the accused first got his ID book in 2015. When home affairs wanted to find out his parents’ details and IDs, the accused labeled a certain lady as his mother. But the lady denied knowing him and her ID book got stolen in 2015. He also labeled two people as his brother and sister but they all denied knowing him or being his siblings,” Hawks spokesperson in Mpumalanga Captain Dineo Sekgotodi said then.