Two men, Elijah Mahlangu and Jabu Mokoena, have appeared before the Emakhazeni Magistrate’s Court facing charges of fraud in connection to the theft of R741,000.
The court appearance of the duo follows their arrest by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks.
“It is alleged that during October 2021, the complainant, Mr Sizolethu Richard Sindane, was a regular customer of a company called Centex Fluid Products Africa (PTY) LTD. Sindane used to buy products by sending an email to the company with a list of required products. The company would package the stock and inform him when they are ready for delivery,” Mpumalanga spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi narrated.
Sindane would then deposit the money through a bank, and the goods would be delivered.
“It is further alleged that the main suspect in this matter, who is a former SA National Defence Force (SANDF) employee, fraudulently accessed an email address of Mr Sindane and he altered the email. The suspect sent an email to Mr Sindane pretending to be Mr Theo Phillipou of Centex Fluid Products Africa using an altered email address informing him that his stock is ready for delivery and he must send the money for payment,” said Sekgotodi.
Sindane replied, telling the fraudsters that he had paid the money. The scammers purporting to be Centex Fluid Products Africa then informed Sindane that they had not received payment.
The scammers informed Sindane that the company had changed banking details, and that he should use the new bank account number sent to him.
Sindane then paid the money into the new bank account provided by the scammers.
“The complainant (Sindane) suffered actual loss amount of R741,000 which was deposited into one of the suspect’s personal bank accounts, who is still to be arrested,” said Sekgotodi.
During investigations, it was confirmed that the company Centex Fluid Products Africa did not receive the money from Sindane during that time.
“Evidence linking five suspects from Gauteng province who received the money into their personal bank accounts was established. The team traced and executed warrants of arrest against two accused, Mahlangu and Mokoena who appeared in court and were released on R1,000,” said Sekgotodi.
The case was postponed to October 23 pending the arrest of the other three suspects.
