HAWKS ARRESTED FORMER DIRECTOR AND PAYROLL ADMINISTRATORS FOR ALLEGED FRAUD AMOUNTING TO R6.3 MILLION

HAWKS ARRESTED FORMER DIRECTOR AND PAYROLL ADMINISTRATORS FOR ALLEGED FRAUD AMOUNTING TO R6.3 MILLION

LIMPOPO: Polokwane based Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation has arrested the accused persons, being former company director and two former payroll administrators for alleged fraud amounting to R6.3 million on 19 May 2025.

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.

According to the information, three accused, Monidue Nel, 52 (payroll administrator), Mr Wanda van Zyl, 57 (Director), and Ms Ruan van Zyl Ruan, 23 ( payroll administrator) prepared fraudulent invoices and submitted them to the Anglo-American Platinum to claim for services rendered by the security guards attached to the Global Strike Security Company.

The 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.

The matter was immediately reported to Mahwelereng police station for assistance. Police opened a case docket of fraud and transferred it to Polokwane based Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation for further probe.

The meritorious investigations of the Hawks managed to link four personnel 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 handled to the office of the National Prosecuting Authority for decision. Subsequent to that, the warrants to arrest the suspect were authorized.

The suspects were contacted and handed themselves to the Hawks. They briefly appeared in the Mahwelereng Magistrate’s Court facing 26 counts of fraud on 19 May 2025. The matter was postponed to 20 May 2025 for bail application.