{"id":6121,"date":"2021-03-11T19:21:18","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T19:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=6121"},"modified":"2021-03-11T18:31:33","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T18:31:33","slug":"ace-magashules-former-bodyguard-gets-15-years-in-jail-for-stealing-pierneef-painting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ace-magashules-former-bodyguard-gets-15-years-in-jail-for-stealing-pierneef-painting","title":{"rendered":"Ace Magashule\u2019s former bodyguard gets 15 years in jail for stealing Pierneef painting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Cape Town – ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule\u2019s former bodyguard has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for stealing an R 8 million painting.<\/p>\n

Ricardo Mettler, who was Magashule\u2019s bodyguard during his term as the Free State premier, was found guilty on four charges relating to the Pierneef painting.<\/p>\n

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).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d said NPA spokesperson Phaladi Shuping.<\/p>\n

Mettler will effectively serve 15 years imprisonment after the court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.<\/p>\n

He stole the painting in March 2018 while helping to vacate the office of Magashule.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe removed the barcode and covered it with brown paper. He then offered the painting to Wei-Lun Hsu, for a loan of between R2 million and R3m.<\/p>\n

Wei-Lun placed the painting in the newspapers to see if there was anyone who would claim it. A senior official from the Department of Public Works recognised the painting and contacted Mettler requesting that he return it. Mettler refused and a charge of theft was laid against him, Shuping said.<\/p>\n

Mettler knew he was stealing a valuable painting the day he took it from the Premier\u2019s Office, said State prosecutor advocate Antoinette Ferreira.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe accused had a motive when he wanted to disguise the marking. He knew the painting was valuable in March 2018 when he wanted to offer it to Hsu as a guarantee. He was twice requested to return the painting but he refused. He was motivated by greed. He abused his position of trust and there is a public outcry from the community of public officials who think they are entitled to government resources\u201d, said Ferreira.<\/p>\n

Cape Times<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Cape Town – ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule\u2019s former bodyguard has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for stealing an R 8 million painting. Ricardo Mettler, who was Magashule\u2019s bodyguard during his term as the Free State premier, was found guilty on four charges relating to the Pierneef painting. In the Bloemfontein High […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":6120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-6121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nAce Magashule\u2019s former bodyguard gets 15 years in jail for stealing Pierneef painting - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cape Town - ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule\u2019s former bodyguard has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for steal ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ace-magashules-former-bodyguard-gets-15-years-in-jail-for-stealing-pierneef-painting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ace Magashule\u2019s former bodyguard gets 15 years in jail for stealing Pierneef painting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cape Town - 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