A couple, Suliman Ismail Molla, 67, and Fathima Essop Molla, 62, directors of Solly Super Store and Wholesale in Secunda, appeared briefly in the Evander Regional Court on Thursday following the seizure of 4 710 packets of illicit cigarettes valued at R107 700 from their business.
The couple, alongside a third suspect, Riaz Moolla, 42, face charges related to violations of the Tobacco Products Act, the Customs and Excise Act, and the Value Added Tax Act.
Business raided by Hawks
The case stems from a raid conducted by the Hawks’ Secunda-based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit on September 9 2024, during which the illicit cigarettes were confiscated, and Riaz Moolla was arrested.
The Mollas were summoned to court and released on a warning. All three were instructed to reappear before the same court on July 29 2025 for further proceedings.
This matter follows a case this publication reported on earlier, where two men, aged 34 and 36, appeared before the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg. They are charged with stealing R6-million from one of the country’s big banks, Capitec.
The suspects were arrested on Wednesday.
Capitec Bank suspects in court
The arrests came after a sophisticated fraud involving a system glitch at Capitec Bank. The glitch allowed one of the suspects to siphon over R6-million.
According to authorities, between November 2023 and January 2024, Capitec Bank encountered an unprecedented number of system malfunctions.
During this period, one of the suspects, a client of the bank, allegedly exploited the glitch. He unlawfully transferred more than R6-million into his Capitec business account and credit card.
The suspect is said to have then dispersed the funds across multiple bank accounts and purchased two vehicles.
Despite efforts by the bank to recover the funds, only R2.4-million has been retrieved. This left Capitec with a loss exceeding R4-million. The case was reported to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit. An in-depth investigation by the unit led to the execution of arrest warrants for the two suspects on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Cops pounce on suspects who stole R6m from Capitec bank during system glitch
