Three suspects who were arrested for being involved in an elaborate bank fraud impersonation scheme, have been remanded in custody in Polokwane.
The three suspects allegedly targeted the Nedbank bank account of a foreign national, who had over R2.6m lying dormant in the account.
They were caught in the act when they sourced a look-a-like of the account holder and tried to withdraw the funds.
They were foiled by the Hawks who arrested them on the spot this Wednesday evening.
Nkululeko Africa Ngwenya, 39, Aubrey Phutuka Matsobane, 42, and Clement Khutso Ngwatwane, 47, were arrested for unlawfully taking over a bank account belonging to a foreign national.
They were remanded in custody until May, 25 2023 following their appearance at the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court in Friday afternoon.
“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 a foreign national Nedbank client who is not residing in the country (South Africa),” police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Matimba Maluleke said.
Maluleke said that 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 accounts.
“The accused have been on the Hawks radar until they were arrested in Polokwane on Wednesday after they were issued with a new bank card by the bank,” Maluleke said.
Maluleke further added that 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 R2.6m.
The Provincial Head of the Hawks in Limpopo, Major General Gopaul “Gopz” Govender, has congratulated the team for its proactive approach in investigating this case with the high sophistication utilized by the accused.
-IOL
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