SA man paid cousin to go to jail

Prison service acted after a tip-off from a member of the public

A South African man who paid a relative to serve a jail sentence in his place has finally been put behind bars.

Engineer Rupert Reddi was sentenced in 2001 for kidnapping and assault. After an appeal process, a man believed to be Mr Reddi was imprisoned in 2003.

Three months later, prison officials discovered that the prisoner in question was in fact Roland Archery, a relative of Mr Reddi.

Both men have now been sentenced to three years' jail for the fraud.

It is the first time in my 27 years in court that I've encountered this Hein van Niekerk, magistrate

Mr Reddi was originally sentenced to four months' jail in connection with an assault on his employees following a robbery at a factory he owned.

He had already been taken into custody to serve that sentence before the fraud trial began.

Tip-off

Officials believe the case is unique in South African legal history.

"It is the first time in my 27 years in court that I've encountered this," magistrate Hein van Niekerk said when passing sentence in Bethlehem in Free State province.

According to one report, court records were tampered with, so that papers received by the prison bore Mr Archery's fingerprints and not those of Mr Reddi.

A tip-off from a member of the public prompted the authorities to investigate the true identity of the man in prison.