Byline: Refeloe Letsoisa

21 July 2023

Seven (7) individuals, who range in ages from 37 to 43, have been arrested by Standerton police on fraud-related allegations.

The suspects were arrested for attempting to defraud a bank of around R200 000 when they were apprehended in Standerton on Thursday, 20 July 2023, at around 13h00.

According to the report, one of the suspects is a woman who went to a certain financial institution on the said day in Standerton and filed for a bank loan of roughly R200 000.

She allegedly provided false documentation, including a bank statement, in order to meet the requirements for a loan that she was allegedly applying for.

It is further alleged that whilst making this application, she was conniving with six other accomplices.

One of the suspects is said to have reportedly confirmed that she was an employee of a certain company during the period bank officials were verifying her details.

However, one of the officials from the said bank became suspicious and noticed that something was fishy about her application.

It is also said that other suspects that were allegedly working with her, reportedly waited outside the bank for her.

The officials from the bank then took a decision to contact the Standerton Police after realizing that something about the female applicant was not adding up.

Upon arrival at the bank, the police officers conducted their investigations, hence all seven suspects were apprehended though they initially attempted to evade the arrest by trying to run away.

During the period, the suspects were arrested; nine cell phones as well as about five wallets, two motor vehicles as well as other items like identification documents and some driver’s licences were seized for further investigation.

The seven suspects are faced with fraud charges and are expected to appear at the Standerton Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 24 July 2023.

According to information from the police, the Standerton area previously had incidents of fraud that were reported and investigators cannot rule out at this stage, the possibility of more charges added against the suspect as the investigation continues.

The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, welcomed the arrest of the suspects and applauded bank officials for the action that they took to inform the police when they became suspicious.