A total of 14 suspects, including former Nedbank employees, were arrested in different parts of Gauteng on Tuesday. They were arrested by the Gauteng serious commercial crime investigation of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks). The arrests follow allegations of fraud and money laundering.
Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the suspects were arrested in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Krugersdorp. They were all arrested on Tuesday morning.
Mogale said the suspects arrested are aged between 25 and 47 years.
Unlawful payments from suspense accounts worth over R157m
She said it was reported that the main suspect unlawfully made payments from suspense accounts valued at over R157-million. These were further transferred to recipients who were not entitled to receive such monies.
Mogale said the recipients involved include 15 individuals, seven entities, and six banks.
She said the suspects will make their first court appearance on Wednesday. They will appear in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court.
The arrests come after Bantu Ntutwana, 36, and Lunga Sinyaza, 45, were last month convicted for fraud. They were sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud and five years for organised crime.
The Gqeberha regional court handed down the sentences recently.
Gqeberha bank fraud suspects jailed
Ntutwana, a multi-skilled service consultant at the FNB Newtown Park branch, was found to have manipulated a deceased person’s bank details with false information. This in order to extract money.
In November 2015, Septimus Hauptfleisch, an 88-year-old client of FNB, passed away. His wife, Alette, was appointed executor of his estate.
However, between February 29 and March 2, 2016, Ntutwana gained unauthorised access to Hauptfleisch’s two accounts.
“Ntutwana manually verified the identity of an unknown person as Hauptfleisch. This despite an online fingerprint verification indicating Hauptfleisch’s death,” said NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali.
Ntutwana also requested an early redemption and updated daily limits. He provided a replacement card and modified contact information. Ntutwana then moved R480, 714.38 to one of the deceased’s two accounts.
After that, he enabled electronic transfer by adding a payment link to Sinyaza’s account. A few days later, R15,000 was taken out of Sinyaza’s account.
Both men entered not guilty pleas. However, senior state advocate Ulrike de Klerk led the FNB forensic investigator’s evidence. He explained in great detail how Ntutwana used financial system manipulation to move money into Sinyaza’s account.
