The Northern Cape Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team, with the assistance of the Priority Crime Specialised Investigation team, recovered more than R4 million that was allegedly defrauded from a business by three Bangladeshi nationals.
THE NORTHERN Cape Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team, with the assistance of the Priority Crime Specialised Investigation team, recovered more than R4 million that was allegedly defrauded from a business by three Bangladeshi nationals.
Hawks provincial spokesperson Captain Tebogo Thebe said the money was allegedly defrauded from Shop-to-Shop (Pty) Ltd between March 1 and March 3.
“The recovery emanates from the arrest of the three accused – Aminul Isam, 39, Ullah Foji, 36, and Akter Atika, 23. They were charged with fraud and money laundering following allegations that they tampered with the drop-safe used at their shop. It is alleged that the accused dropped an amount of R707,040 repeatedly, thereby making their drop safe app account linked to the safe to be credited with approximately R11 million. A total amount of R11 million was immediately transferred to different accounts locally and offshore,” said Thebe.
He added that the three accused were apprehended at Kimberley Airport before they boarded a flight to Johannesburg.
“Irregular activities of the safe were detected and reported to the directorate. The accused were traced at the Kimberley Airport, where they were about to board a flight to Johannesburg. Their final destination was reportedly Dubai/Dhaka as per their airline tickets. The police searched the accused and found R23,000 cash in their possession.”
Thebe said the case was postponed to June 29 and the accused’s bail applications were denied.
