Cape Town – The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team have arrested an Information Technology (IT) expert allegedly involved in a business email compromise scam.
Twenty-nine-year-old Rangwato Grace Motebu consequently appeared in the Palmridge Magistrate’s Court on Thursday and after she was arrested on the same day.
Police spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha, said Motebu is accused of engineering a Business Email Compromise Scam (BECS) which reportedly unduly enriched her to the tune of more than R700 000
Ramovha said on 18 March to 06 April 2018, Motebu hacked into the emails of Twinsaver company and a supplier and she intercepted correspondences and fraudulently changed banking details to her own and made off with the money.
“An investigation by the Joburg based Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team discovered that Motebu was the alleged perpetrator and this resulted in her arrest,” Ramovha added.
The court has granted Motebu R5 000 bail and case postponed until Monday, 03 April 2023 for legal representative.
In another unrelated incident in Gauteng, court has sentenced Mark Jonathan Vorster 45, to an effective six year jail term for defrauding the Unemployment Insurance Fund, Temporary Employment Relief Scheme during the height of Covid-19 pandemic in August 2020.
Ramovha says Vorster who was a chartered accountant during the commission of the crime, submitted fraudulent UIF-TERS claims on behalf of five companies that were using his services as an accountant and bookkeeper.
Ramovha adds that Vorster committed these crimes without the knowledge nor consent from the directors the companies.
Ramovha said Vorster unduly benefited just under R900 000 from the fraudulent transaction which he used for his own benefit and almost half of the amount was preserved following a court order but he had already spent the other amount.
“The Hawks’ arrested Vorster on 21 July 2021 and faced with indomitable evidence he elected to plead guilty on all eleven counts of fraud, two counts of theft and one count of money laundering,” he said.
IOL