EVANDER – Thabo Simon Ntuli (26) was sentenced in the Evander Regional Court to 20 years imprisonment on Tuesday, 29 January.
He was sentenced for 1 075 counts of theft of data, conspiracy to commit fraud or theft, and possessing a card skimming device.
Ntuli showed no emotion in the dock as he awaited his fate.
The card skimmer worked at the Leandra Toll Plaza from May 2016 to September 2016, when he was caught with a card skimming device.
Ntuli was believed to have been a crucial part of a syndicate who operated in the Mpumalanga area, and was referred to as a ‘harvester of information’ by the magistrate during the sentencing.
After he was found guilty on 22 October, Ms Annelie Steyn, senior state prosecutor, said it is believed that Ntuli was part of a syndicate that would snatch up the personal information of a card holder, forge new cards and then spend as much money on that card as possible, before the card is reported to the bank.
The interest of the public was considered in that many people, as well as businesses were directly affected by Ntuli’s actions.
A business in Nelspruit was forced to close down after suffering a tremendous loss with patrons using the fraudulent cards to purchase goods.
The magistrate highlighted during the sentencing that before Ntuli began working at the toll gate, he underwent training that educated and warned him against what the consequences of his actions would be if he exploited his position.
So in no way was he uneducated on the matter and it was established that he committed these crimes intentionally.
Since Ntuli’s arrest in September 2016, he has been in custody for two years and four months awaiting trial and sentencing.
The wait included 14 witnesses and the court having to go through piles of documents, as well as further investigation on the damage that was done.
Major banks in South Africa such as Standard Bank, Absa, Wesbank, Nedbank and Investec Bank identified that the magnetic data had been extracted from numerous bank cards that were presented at the Leandra toll gates.
More than R1,3-million is lost due to Ntuli’s harvesting of information.
Ntuli admitted to having the card skimming device in his possession when he was caught, but he pleaded not guilty on many of the charges that were presented and analysed in court.
Ntuli was sentenced to 2981 years cumulatively, but the court has ordered that he serve his time concurrently. He will effectively spend 20 years behind bars.
Also read:
