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Hawks: Ex-FNB staffer arrested for stealing R400K from German national
The Hawks say there was about R6 million in the German national’s account when the fraudulent activities occurred
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A former employee from First National Bank (FNB) may have been part of a syndicate that specialises in financial crimes and faces several charges in relation to R400 000 stolen from a bank account belonging to a German national.
The suspect, 30-year-old Lwando Dingiswayo was arrested on Wednesday, 15 September 2021, and subsequently appeared before the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crime Court.
Some of the charges Dingiswayo faces include fraud and contravention of the Electronics Communications and Transactions Act.
“It is alleged that between December 8 2017 and February 14 2018, the FNB investment account of a German national was accessed by two FNB employees,” said Hawks spokesperson Capt Yolisa Mgolodela.
“The contact information of the account holder was changed, the signing authority on the account was cancelled and a new signing authority was granted to a fictitious John Mackay who supposedly formed part of a syndicate”
Hawks spokesperson Capt Yolisa Mgolodela
According to the Hawks, ‘Mackay’ transferred funds from the wealthy German national’s investment account to their cheque account. They then tried to withdraw money from the cheque account, with little success.
“When the transaction was unsuccessful and the account was put on hold, Mackay somehow managed to transfer the balance of R400,000 in the investment account to a Standard Bank account that was opened using fraudulent documentation. The money was successfully withdrawn from the Standard Bank account before the account was frozen shortly afterwards,” Mgolodela added.
The Hawks received the complaint in March 2018 for investigation which led to Dingiswayo’s arrest. He was granted R1 000 bail and the case has been postponed to 29 September 2021.
More arrests imminent
In addition to Dingiswayo, the Hawks say they expect to make more arrests in the case very soon. According to Mgobodela, the German was not in South Africa when the fraudulent activities occurred.
The bank account had R6 million but had an actual loss of only R400 000 after several failed fraudulent transactions.
