13 Appear in Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in R147 Million Bank Fraud Case

• 13 suspects who appeared before the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court have been granted bail
• The suspects were arrested after they were involved in a fraud in which R157 million was transferred to a different account
• One of the suspects who was arrested was a forensic investigator from Nedbank and will return to court in 2025

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered criminal activities, police investigations, police shootouts and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

JOHANNESBURG—The Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court granted 23 suspects accused of bank fraud bail and instructed them to appear in January 2025.

Suspects allegedly commit bank fraud

According to The Citizen, the 14 suspects face 224 counts of fraud related to activity between July 2018 and January 2023. Led by Nedbank's forensic investigator, Nicolette de Villiers, one of the suspects, the group reportedly siphoned R157 million from the bank's suspense account.

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A suspense account is used to secure funds under investigation. De Villiers issued instructions for the money to be transferred to the co-conspirators and companies associated with them.

The funds were supposed to be returned to their rightful owners, but instead, they were transferred to the bank accounts associated with de Villiers' associates. The National Prosecuting Authority's Gauteng Spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, said the accused received bail between R2,000 and R20,000 and were expected to appear on 29 January 2025.

Mjonondwane said that one of the suspects is still in custody and has a bail hearing scheduled for 7 November. The suspect, Yu-wei Fang, is Taiwanese, and there was no interpreter during court proceedings.

Bank fraud suspects convicted of bank fraud

In a related article, Briefly News reported that two former Absa employees were found guilty of fraud, money laundering, and other charges.

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The duo committed fraud for two years, from 2019 to 2021, using their access to the Absa electronic banking system to carry out fraudulent activities.

Due to the overwhelming evidence against them, the suspects entered into a plea deal after they opened bank accounts using the names of dead people and foreign nationals without their knowledge.

Source: Briefly News