COPS FREEZE ACCOUNT AFTER E4.6M DEPOSITED

MBABANE – A bank account, wherein about E4.6 million was deposited in various amounts in a space of a month, has been frozen by the police on suspicions of money laundering.

The money that was deposited into the bank account of Nosisi Investments, held with Nedbank Swaziland, was frozen after it was red-flagged by the bank. In the month of March, the bank account received amounts of E150 000 from the Central Bank of Eswatini and sums of E135 000 were disbursed to different account holders. When the various amounts of E150 000  were deposited in various intervals in March 2024, totalling E4.6 million, the account had a standing balance of E235.95.

Red-flagged

It was after the bank had red-flagged the account that police were roped in and they swiftly approached the Mbabane Magistrates Court, where they obtained an order to freeze the company’s bank account and that of 36 individuals. When the police eventually obtained the order to freeze the bank account, it was left with a sum of E1 142 844.95. The order, which was issued by Acting Magistrate Innocent Motsa, did not only authorise the freezing of the account, but also those of the individuals to whose accounts part of the money was dispatched from the main account. The court restrained Nosisi Investments and its Director Nosisi Lindiwe Ndwandwe from making any transactions on account No.1190475541 held with Nedbank Swaziland for a period of 180 calendar days, effective from March 11, 2024.

The bank was ordered to ensure that no transaction was effected by Nosisi Investments on account No.1190147541 for a period of 180 days, with effect from March 11, 2024.  The application was made in terms of Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Act of 2011 as amended. The national commissioner of police is the applicant in the matter, while respondents are Nosisi Investment, Ndwandwe and Nedbank Swaziland. The company has since moved an urgent application at the High Court to unfreeze the account. Lawyer Sikhumbuzo Simelane contended that the matter was urgent, because the accounts of the company had been frozen on suspicion that they (accounts) were involved in money laundering.

Simelane argued that all the monies and transactions appearing in the accounts were home improvement and security upgrade loans for elected members of bucopho and tindvuna tetinkhundla granted in line with Finance Circular No.2/2023. Circular No.2 provides that, all parliamentarians and designated office bearers are eligible for loans of up to E200 00 to cover security facilities in their residential homes. According to the circular, E150 000 of that loan would be provided by the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini and the balance of E50 000, if so required, would be sourced from local banks in line with the Civil Service Home Loan Scheme.

Legitimately

“The monies were legitimately paid out into the account by the Eswatini Government after all the individual loan applications were allegedly authorised, approved by the loaner, being Eswatini Government,” argued Simelane. He informed the court that the first applicant (Nosisi Investments) then disbursed the monies to the accounts of the individual members and there was absolutely nothing illegal about that.  It was further his contention that the suspicion of money laundering were completely unfounded. “The applicants, especially the members of bucopho and tindvuna tetinkhundla, will not be granted substantial redress at a hearing in due course, because all of them want to use the monies which are loaned to them and government, who is their employer, will start deducting the monthly instalment repayments from their salaries now in March 2024,” submitted the lawyer.  

Simelane argued that it would be unjust to repay the loan that one had not received because of the freezing of the accounts. He then entreated the court to discharge the restraining order that was granted by the magistrate on March 11, 2024.   Simelane pleaded with the court to order Nedbank Swaziland to unfreeze the bank account of the company and that of the tindvuna tetinkhundla and bucopho immediately.

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