Five suspects accused of defrauding Capitec Bank appear in court

Five suspects appeared in the Emalahleni magistrate’s court on Tuesday on charges of fraud, corruption, forgery, uttering and money laundering.

Christopher Mduduzi Zelani, 36, Eric Khumalo, 53, Mthobisi Mahlobo, 32, Austin Mabuza, 27, and Zithobile Mango, 41, were arrested by members of the Mpumalanga commercial crime investigation unit during a Capitec Bank operation conducted in the province and Bronkhorstspruit in Gauteng between March 26 and 28.

“The arrests are linked to a syndicate that allegedly applied for loans and credit cards using fraudulent documents,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said.

Between August 2021 and August 2023, the accused allegedly operated as a syndicate targeting Capitec Bank.

“They allegedly recruited Capitec employees to facilitate loan applications using fraudulent documents. Once the loans were approved, the accused would allegedly share the proceeds among themselves. As a result, Capitec Bank suffered a financial loss exceeding R2m.” 

The court granted each accused bail of R5,000. They must report to their nearest police station twice a week, surrender their travel documents to the investigating officer and not leave the country without notifying the investigating officer. 

The case was postponed to May 8 for the identification of additional suspects and further investigations. 

TimesLIVE