Plan to loot Bafokeng millions
Royal Bafokeng’s R100m targeted in bank scam
A timely intervention by forensic investigators has prevented crooks from defrauding a North West community of millions of rands from the bank account of its investment company.
Royal Bafokeng Investments was set to lose at least R100m due to fraudulent activities. The company takes care of the development needs of the Bafokeng nation, whose lands boasts some of the richest platinum deposits on Earth.
Three people were intercepted and arrested before they could make a transfer from the company’s bank account into the fraudsters’ accounts in Burgersfort, Limpopo.
The three were arrested on July 20 while trying to open bank accounts at an Absa branch in the mining town.
Yesterday, they appeared in the Praktiseer Magistrate’s Court to apply for bail which has been set for tomorrow.
Sergeant Patricia Mokonyama of the Commercial Crimes Unit in Polokwane told the court the trio did not deserve to be granted bail.
Mokonyama said the three – a Ugandan national and two South Africans, including a nine-months pregnant woman – had used different identities and addresses.
The court heard that the Ugandan, identified as Aaron Madanda, had two different passports, one of which is fake. The identities of the two South Africans are also dodgy.
“Accused number one [the woman] has identified herself as Nwabisa Goci, born in 1989. But upon further investigation, I discovered she has two IDs, one of which identifies her as Nwabisa Goci, while the other identifies her as Albertina Kekana, who was born in 1973,” Mokonyama told the court. She said she could not confirm the identity of accused No 2, Tshepo Daniel Sehlapelo.
“One of Sehlapelo’s IDs indicates he was born in January 1991, while the other identifies him as Nkosinathi Emmanuel Masango who was born in 1985,” Mokonyama said.
The sergeant added that the woman gave her residential address as Midrand, Johannesburg, but after investigation it was found she hailed from Queenstown in Eastern Cape.
Mokonyama said the three were caught trying to open accounts, and that they had connived with a bank official known to them. The money was to be transferred into the accounts opened fraudulently.
She said that telephone records and other information police accessed showed that the trio had planned to transfer R100-million from Royal Bafokeng Investments.
Defence lawyer Milton Motene acknowledged that his clients faced Schedule 5 offences but said the trio posed no flight risk.