Assets seized in Postbank heist case

The Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) this week seized a mansion belonging to the alleged mastermind behind one of South Africa's biggest cyber crimes.

The Sunday Times can today reveal that the "unemployed" Kabelo Kekana has been named as the kingpin of a syndicate allegedly responsible for the 72-hour New Year's heist that cost the Postbank R32-million.

In January the Sunday Times reported that the gang had cloned the Postbank IT system and made thousands of withdrawals at ATMs in several provinces.

Three gang members were arrested earlier this year.

But police kept a lid on the involvement of Kekana until the raid this week, when he was named as the mastermind who had planned the heist for four years.

Investigators said that within days of the heist Kekana went on a spending spree and paid off debts, including R15000 in traffic fines.

It can now be revealed that:

The AFU has taken pos- session of Kekana's assets, including a five-bedroom Midrand mansion worth R5-million and custom-made furniture worth R1.3-million, pending the outcome of the case;

Kekana's wife, Melvy Masolo, was suspended from her job as a projects officer at Business Against Crime (BAC) following his arrest in April; and

The syndicate had planned to hit other banks, including mining bank Ubank, managed by the National Union of Mineworkers and Chamber of Mines.

BAC chief executive Simi Pillay-van Graan confirmed that Masolo was suspended with full pay after Kekana's arrest.

Pillay-van Graan said: "We decided this was the best thing to do as it's a very serious crime and we need to protect the integrity of the organisation. But we are not saying she is guilty of any wrongdoing."

Masolo declined to comment.

Kekana was arrested after his three alleged accomplices entered into plea deals with the state.

Affidavits handed in at court during their respective cases reveal the planning and execution of the heist.

The Post Office's security and investigations manager, Patrick Ngomane, said more arrests would follow. He said the Postbank, which falls under the Post Office, had since improved its IT security systems.

Court documents include confessions by jailed syndicate members and show how it infiltrated the Postbank by recruiting one of its call centre agents, Boy Thekiso, into its ranks.

Hawks investigator Colonel Yolanda Gair's affidavit spells out how Kekana allegedly went on a spending spree days after the heist. At his yet-to-be-completed mansion in the exclusive Carlswald North Lifestyle Estate in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, Kekana paid electricians and painters in cash.

He bought the stand in 2006 and has since built a five-bedroom mansion with a private cinema, rooftop entertainment area and an entertainment room.

Gair said Kekana was in arrears with his bond repayments but on January 5, just days after the heist, deposited R60000 into the bond account.

She said police had reason to believe the cash came from the Postbank heist as Kekana "had no other means to access such an amount of cash as he is unemployed".

Gair said: "My first impression of the defendant's financial position was that he lives in apparent wealth and this despite his unemployment."

Kekana was denied bail and will return to court next month.

AFU spokesman Bulelwa Makeke said the hunt for the missing cash was under way. "No cash was recovered. It is believed the millions are still stashed away somewhere. Investigations are ongoing to locate it," she said.

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