A criminal case involving a Johannesburg north-eastern suburb’s ‘con artist’ has been referred to the South African Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the Hawks.
The case was initially opened at the Sandringham Police Station after multiple people had come forward, claiming to have invested with the man, but that payments on their investments stopped being made.
The case was opened by the alleged con-artist’s sister-in-law as reported in the article Is this a Ponzi scheme? [Week Ending 12 July] with assistance of the IRS Forensic Investigators in Houghton.
Following on their extensive investigation, Chad Thomas, CEO and chief investigator at IRS, said the brother-in-law gave contradicting statements which could not be corroborated.
At first, said Thomas, he claimed to have invested the money with Steinhoff which later collapsed. “When confronted again, he changed his story and stated that he had in fact invested in a game farm venture.
“In a follow-up meeting with IRS Forensic Investigations, he again changed his story and stated that he had used funds from his investors as ‘high risk loans’ with the intention of securing high returns for his investors. The sister-in-law instructed IRS Forensic Investigations to proceed with the opening of a criminal case.”
A case was then opened on 26 June at the Sandringham Police Station with a request from IRS that it be escalated to the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit.
Sandringham police spokesperson Captain Mohlaume Mamabolo confirmed to the North Eastern Tribune on 8 July saying, “Due to the large amount of money involved in this case, the matter was considered and indeed referred to the commercial crimes unit.
“Usually if a case involves more than a million rand, it is referred to the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit, however, it still remains a Sandringham police case.”
Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu, communication officer at the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in Gauteng, confirmed that they are handling the matter.
Mulamu said the case was transferred last Wednesday to their Serious Commercial Crime Unit at the Johannesburg branch for further investigation. “When the investigation is finalised, the docket will then be submitted to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for a decision whether the alleged perpetrator should be arrested or not.
“The investigation process includes collecting of bank statements which will indicate the accounts’ activities, and that will determine whether there are more defrauded victims or not.”
This process will enable the investigation team to establish the victim/s details and any other information which may place the investigation process at an advanced stage, concluded Mulamu.
Details: Hawks Gauteng 011 776 5375.
Related article:
https://northeasterntribune.co.za/233667/suspects-remain-in-police-custody-for-various-crimes/
