Limpopo – The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation in Polokwane arrested a suspect on Tuesday, September 13, in connection with theft of over R36 million, belonging to a deceased bank client.
Police spokesperson Captain Matimba Maluleke said in a statement that the 47-year-old foreign national handed himself over to the police accompanied by his legal representative.
His arrest followed the arrest of Thabiso Matenda (28), who was an ex-employee of the First National Bank (FNB) based in Makhado.
Maluleke said that Matenda opened a profile of the deceased client in April this year.
“It is alleged that Matenda opened a profile of the deceased client on 25 April 2022 without any authorisation and stole R36 989 052.67.”
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Maluleke said that the deceased bank client was a foreign national who died in a motor vehicle accident.
“The deceased, who was also a foreign national businessman based in South Africa, reportedly died in a fatal motor vehicle accident on 24 April 2022. The stolen money was transferred into the new different bank accounts that were created and it was squandered.”
Additional two people were involved with the theft.
“Two more accused persons, who are a couple, were arrested in Johannesburg on 17 July 2022 after they fought over R6 million 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 000-00 bail each. Matenda was also released on R20 000-00 bail.”
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Picture: Twitter/@SAPoliceService
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
