2 BANK WORKERS, EX-STANLIB AGENT IMPLICATED IN CHURCHES FRAUD

MBABANE - Investigations by the police have uncovered an elaborate scheme implicating two Standard Bank employees and a former agent of STANLIB in the alleged theft of money from bank accounts operated by churches.

STANLIB is one of the leading asset managers and is part of the Standard Bank Group Limited.  According to police investigations, it was discovered that one of the fraudulent activities, where about E2 million belonging to a church was stolen, was allegedly orchestrated by a former broker of STANLIB, Ntombifuthi Portia Nkambule, in collusion with two others, who were not employed by STANLIB. Nkambule is the woman whose picture with a notice was recently placed in the newspapers, informing clients of STANLIB that she was no longer doing any business on behalf of the institution.  Another fraud is where a sum of E464 000 belonging to the Lutheran Church, was allegedly stolen and two employees of Standard Bank Eswatini, acting with another man who is not employed by the bank, were implicated.

Investigations

In their investigations, police reportedly found that Nkambule allegedly first defrauded the Church of the Holy Ghost, which is a client of STANLIB, a sum of E940 000. She is alleged to have done this through disinvesting the church investment with STANLIB. Disinvestment is the withdrawal of invested funds or the cancellation of financial aid, subsidies, or investment plan. It alleged that Nkambule committed the offence with one Sibusiso Dlamini. The investigation alleged that the disinvestment was the first fraudulent act committed against the church and it was upon the successful disinvestment and enjoyment of the fruits therefrom that a plan was executed to take over the church account. The investigator of the matter, Detective Mhlonishwa Sibandze, deposed to an affidavit where he detailed how monies belonging to the churches were allegedly stolen. The allegations are contained in an application filed by the State, where it is seeking an order to preserve movable and immovable properties belonging to the duo, in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) of 2018.

According to Sibandze, the monies were transferred to a bank account allegedly held by Mxolisi Dlamini and means to locate him proved futile as information received from his close relatives was that he had relocated to the United States of America. The investigator told the court that as soon as they spent the E940 000, they again defrauded the church about E57 000, using the same modus operandi.  He submitted that as soon as they spent the money, it was suspected that Nkambule investigated the source of the funds before they were invested in STANLIB. She is said to have discovered that the money came from a Standard Bank account. The investigator brought it to the court’s attention that, due to the fact that Mxolisi was no longer in the country, Nkambule allegedly roped in Sibusiso for the Standard Bank fraud. “Ntombifuthi was working for Standard Bank day in and day out as an insurance broker, while Sibusiso defrauded the Lutheran Church prior to this offence together with two Standard Bank employees. They defrauded the Lutheran Church a sum of E464 000,” submitted the investigator.

Changing

In the Church of Holy Ghost fraud, the investigator stated that Nkambule and Sibusiso allegedly took over the account of the church by changing signatories fraudulently. The duo of Nkambule and Sibusiso, according to the investigator, allegedly created cellphone Apps for easy transacting for both of them. He said in their investigations, they discovered that some of the monies were transferred from the church’s account to Nkambule, while some went to Agri S.N. Investment - a company belonging to Sibusiso as the sole shareholder. It was further found that the balance was allegedly used by the two to buy properties for themselves.  Detective Sibandze said in the course of his investigations, he interviewed and obtained affidavits of Phesheya Mncina, Bathobile Dlamini and Sibusiso Mndzebele; all employed by Standard Bank.  He said he also obtained the bank account statements of the Church of the Holy Ghost. “I learnt that two of the signatories to the church bank account were in Eswatini in respect of the fraud perpetrated at STANLIB; namely Bhekukukhanya Ngcobo and Nkosinathi Sibisi. The church is headquartered in KwaZulu-Natal and all signatories are South Africans,” submitted Detective Sibandze.

He submitted that he then interviewed them and proceeded to obtain affidavits from them. “I then analysed the bank statement of the Church of the Holy Ghost. I realised that the monies were stolen and transferred from the account in different amounts.” Detective Sibandze highlighted that when the first stolen amount was received into Nkambule’s Standard Bank account, there was a mere balance of E105.30. He further pointed out that the stolen amounts were co-mingled with other funds but there were insignificant, ranging between E0 to E2 700 received occasionally.  

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: