The Hawks' serious commercial crime investigation unit is executing a takedown operation dubbed “Tit for Tat” in connection with the alleged theft of more than R36m belonging to a deceased First National Bank (FNB) client.
The operation started on May 29 in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, with nine arrests since then. This brings the number of suspects arrested to 13 and more arrests are imminent, Lt-Col Matimba Maluleke said.
Among them is a police sergeant stationed at Makhado.
The deceased, a foreign businessman based in South Africa, died in a vehicle accident in April last year. The next day, a 29-year-old FNB employee in Makhado allegedly opened a profile for the deceased client and stole R36,989,052.67.
“The stolen money was transferred into new bank accounts that were created and the money was squandered.”
The FNB employee was the first suspect arrested last year. The Hawks said at the time he allegedly spent some of the stolen cash on expensive cars and donated money to a church.
Limpopo Hawks head Maj-Gen Gopz Govender said: “We are going to arrest all those involved in this case. We believe all the accused will be convicted.”
Last July, SowetanLIVE identified the victim as Zimbabwean businessman Obert Karombe, reporting that online publications in Zimbabwe portrayed him as a socialite who lived a flashy lifestyle and drove expensive cars, and was a regular visitor to South Africa. New Zimbabwe.com and other outlets published footage of his funeral, saying he was buried in a Rolls-Royce coffin.
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Car crash victim’s bank account cleaned out: Hawks arrest 13 suspects
Image: 123RF/varandah
The Hawks' serious commercial crime investigation unit is executing a takedown operation dubbed “Tit for Tat” in connection with the alleged theft of more than R36m belonging to a deceased First National Bank (FNB) client.
The operation started on May 29 in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, with nine arrests since then. This brings the number of suspects arrested to 13 and more arrests are imminent, Lt-Col Matimba Maluleke said.
Among them is a police sergeant stationed at Makhado.
The deceased, a foreign businessman based in South Africa, died in a vehicle accident in April last year. The next day, a 29-year-old FNB employee in Makhado allegedly opened a profile for the deceased client and stole R36,989,052.67.
“The stolen money was transferred into new bank accounts that were created and the money was squandered.”
The FNB employee was the first suspect arrested last year. The Hawks said at the time he allegedly spent some of the stolen cash on expensive cars and donated money to a church.
Limpopo Hawks head Maj-Gen Gopz Govender said: “We are going to arrest all those involved in this case. We believe all the accused will be convicted.”
Last July, SowetanLIVE identified the victim as Zimbabwean businessman Obert Karombe, reporting that online publications in Zimbabwe portrayed him as a socialite who lived a flashy lifestyle and drove expensive cars, and was a regular visitor to South Africa. New Zimbabwe.com and other outlets published footage of his funeral, saying he was buried in a Rolls-Royce coffin.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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