The Hawks have nabbed two more fraudsters who personally benefitted R18-million from the unauthorised R99 debit order transactions.
The suspects Ravenda Singh, 50, and his son Andrew, 26, are the directors of Sub User, a call centre in Durban. They were arrested in Johannesburg on Wednesday last week.
Hawks spokesperson Ndivhuwo Mulamu said: “The duo handed themselves in at the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation [offices] in Johannesburg and were subsequently charged with fraud. On the same day, the pair appeared at the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court and were each granted R30 000 bail.
“The suspects were linked through a forensic investigation carried out by the banks, which discovered undue debit orders through the suspects’ call-centre companies.”
They allegedly created a fraudulent bank payment system to collect debit orders for call centres, which resulted in unauthorised debit orders’ scam.
According to the Hawks, the father and son were part of a syndicate that raked in at least R200-million in unauthorised R99 debit order transactions between November 2018 and February 2019.
The pair’s case was postponed to May 27, where they will appear jointly with co-accused Jason Foster, 39, and Richard Marsden, 51, who are also out on R30 000 and R100 000 bail, respectively.
“Foster was arrested in February this year at the OR Tambo International Airport whereas Marsden’s apprehension was affected in October last year at the Cape Town International Airport. Foster and Marsden are also directors of Durban-based call-centre companies Blue Debit and Talent Base.
“The Hawks’ investigation revealed that the syndicate siphoned approximately R248-million from unsuspecting bank clients and transferred [the money] into different bank accounts allegedly linked to the syndicate,” said Mulamu
The Hawks’ provincial head, Major-General Ebrahim Kadwa, commended the investigating team for successfully apprehending the father and son.
Kodwa said: “We sincerely sympathise with all the bank clients who became victims of the alleged fraudsters. We are also pleased that the perpetrators have been brought to book to account for their fraudulent activities.
“Communities are urged to report all suspicious criminal activities to authorities for further probing.”
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