A former security company director and two former payroll administrators of the same company appeared in court for alleged fraud amounting to R6,3-million.
Limpopo Hawks spokesperson W/O Lethunya Mmuroa said Polokwane-based Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit arrested the accused persons, comprising of the former company director and two former payroll administrators for alleged fraud amounting to R6.3-million on Monday.
Submitted fraudulent invoices
“During the period between 20 December 2018 and 20 September 2021, the former employees of the Global Strike Security Company allegedly submitted fraudulent invoices and claimed funds to Anglo-American Platinum for security services that were not rendered,” said Mmuroa.
According to the information, the three accused, payroll clerk Monidue Nel, 52, Wanda van Zyl, 57, director, and payroll clerk Ruan van Zyl, 23 prepared fraudulent invoices. They submitted them to the Anglo-American Platinum to claim for services rendered by the security guards attached to the Global Strike Security Company.
“Anglo-American Platinum got suspicious and conducted internal forensic investigations. The investigation revealed that over 33 fraudulent claims were submitted to the company. And payments were already processed. As a result, Anglo-American Platinum suffered a loss of over R6.3-million,” said Mmuroa.
Company defrauded R6.3m, Hawks called in
Mmuroa said the matter was immediately reported to Mahwelereng police station for assistance.
Police opened a case of fraud and transferred it to Polokwane based Hawks for further probe, Mmuroa said.
“The meritorious investigations of the Hawks managed to link four personnel to the crime. The four are attached to Global Strike Security Company with the committed crime. Three of them are the mentioned accused, and the fourth one is a deceased.
“After the investigations, the case was handed to the office of the NPA for decision. Subsequent to that, the warrants to arrest the suspect were authorised,” said Mmuroa.
First court appearance
Mmuroa said the three accused were contacted and handed themselves over to the Hawks.
He said the three accused briefly appeared in the Mahwelereng Magistrate’s Court facing 26 counts of fraud on Monday.
On Tuesday, the matter was in the Mahwelereng Magistrate’s Court for the bail application of the three accused.
