R1m ‘web of lies and deceit’

A suspected scam which saw a Port Elizabeth business allegedly being conned out of about R1m worth of cellphone contracts has been uncovered after a six-month probe.

The investigation led to the arrest of former PureGroup national accounts manager Bianca Lipka, 33, and her partner, Chantelle van Wyk, 35.

They are accused of cooking up a scheme that allegedly saw about R1m in Telkom Mobile contracts – registered under the company – stolen and then sold.

According to the charge sheet, the couple sold the contracts and phones to self-employed businessman Asfaque Mohamed, 24.

All three were arrested on Friday morning after the investigation by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime unit.

Port Elizabeth-based PureGroup, an IT telecommunications provider, is situated in Heugh Road, Walmer.

The court documents state that between July 2017 and May 2018, Lipka entered into numerous mobile contracts with Telkom Mobile on behalf of PureGroup.

The contracts consisted of a handset, airtime and data.

It was later discovered that the 46 contracts were not allocated on the firm’s systems or supplied to the customers.

According to the court papers, Mohamed allegedly paid R518,500 into Lipka’s bank account and R10,000 into Van Wyk’s account in what the state claims was payment for the mobile devices.

Mohamed also allegedly paid cash to Lipka and Van Wyk on delivery of the handsets.

They are accused of conspiring to defraud the company.

PureGroup chief executive Ian Mirk said in an affidavit to the police that the total loss suffered was about R1.8m.

“In my view, the simple answer is that the web of deceit that Lipka has spun is no more than that – a web of lies and deceit to cover her [alleged] fraud, theft and racketeering which are exposed at every turn,” he said.