The Hawks have arrested five suspects on charges of fraud, theft and money laundering. The arrests followed a search and seizure operation at three different addresses in Montana (Pretoria North), Equestria (Pretoria East) and Highveld (Centurion).
The suspects allegedly used particulars of unsuspected victim/s (eg. Copies of ID, Bank statements, employment details and salary advises) to apply for home loans from banks. The suspects allegedly created fictitious profiles on behalf of the victims. The suspects also approached unsuspecting victims and promised to open bank accounts as well as register companies on their behalf. Once these companies were registered, the suspect’s took control of the entities and their finances.
The suspects also kept the bank cards, cheque books and credit cards from their victims and controlled the funds in the bank accounts. More than 100 CCs were registered under the names of the victims and the suspects laundered money between these companies and enriched themselves.
The Receiver of Revenue was allegedly defrauded over R13 million on false VAT returns. The suspects will appear in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday.
Enquiries:
Colonel McIntosh Polela
Tel: (012) 400 6584/ 6579
Suspects bust for fraud, theft and money laundering
