THREE BANK ACCOUNT TAKE-OVER FRAUDSTERS REMANDED IN CUSTODY
LIMPOPO – Three accused, Nkululeko Africa Ngwenya (39), Aubrey Phutuka Matsobane(42) and Clement Khutso Ngwatwane (47) were remanded in custody until 25 May 2023 when they appeared before the Polokwane Magistrates’ Court today following their arrest on allegations of fraud.
The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation received intelligence about a sophisticated fraud syndicate that was planning to unlawfully take over the bank account belonging to foreign national Nedbank client who is not residing in the country (South Africa).
Through the preliminary investigation, it was discovered that the accused would identify a Nedbank account with a lot of money but dormant and forge the documents of the lawful owner in order to get access to the account.
Further investigations revealed that the suspects would search for a person who looks exactly like the one in the picture of the original passport so that they can go to the bank and activate the account and transfer the money to their own bank account(s).
The accused have been on the Hawks radar until they were arrested in Polokwane on 17 May 2023 after they were issued with a new bank card by the bank. The accused were caught before they could steal the money from the bank’s client, as a result the bank suffered a potential loss of R2.6 million.
The Provincial Head of the Hawks in Limpopo, Major General Gopz Govender has congratulated the team for its proactive approach in investigating this case with its high sophistication utilised by the accused.
