Pretoria: Another suspect, aged 47, believed to be one of the masterminds in connection with theft of more than R36 million belonging to a bank’s deceased client, has been arrested by the Hawks' serious commercial crime investigation team in Polokwane.
The Hawks’ provincial spokesperson in Limpopo, Captain Matimba Maluleke, said the alleged fraudster, who was arrested on Tuesday, was a businessman.
“The suspect, who is a foreign national businessman, handed himself to the police, accompanied by his legal representative. The first accused person to be arrested in this case was Thabiso Matenda, 28, who was employed by the First National Bank (FNB) based in Makhado,” said Maluleke.
On April 25, Matenda allegedly opened a profile of the deceased client without authorisation, and stole R36 989 052.
“The deceased, who was also a foreign national businessman based in South Africa, reportedly died in a fatal vehicle accident on 24 April 2022. The stolen money was transferred into the new bank accounts that were created and was squandered,” said Maluleke.
“Two more accused persons, who are a couple, were arrested in Johannesburg on 17 July 2022, after they fought over R6m that they had allegedly received from one of the suspects. The couple, Nomaphelo Sethi, 28, and Rody Martial Nzeya, 43, appeared in the Makhado Magistrate’s Court and were released on R20 000 bail each.”
Matenda was also released on R20 000 bail.
The suspected mastermind is scheduled to appear in the Makhado Magistrate’s Court today.
The Hawks said he would be facing fraud and money-laundering charges.
Previously, the Hawks said that during the investigation, it was discovered that some of the stolen money was used to buy expensive cars and make donations to a church.
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