MTHATHA – A scam in which fraudsters posing as Standard Bank employees stole more than R1.07 million from a victim’s account has led to the sentencing of two men for fraud and money laundering.

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) and the National Prosecuting Authority secured the conviction and sentencing of Sibusiso Mabaso (34) and Lethulwazi Wandile Mnguni (33) in the Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 1 July.

Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana said the case began when the complainant was contacted by fraudsters posing as Standard Bank employees.

“The perpetrators falsely made the victim believe that suspicious activity had been detected in his bank account and persuaded him to transfer funds from the Family Trust account into his savings account,” said Mhlakuvana.

He said the victim was also convinced to disclose the one-time passwords (OTPs) required to authorise electronic banking transactions before being instructed to switch off his cellphone for about two hours.

“During this period, the perpetrators unlawfully executed a series of electronic transactions, fraudulently appropriating R1 070 749.85 from the complainant’s account,” Mhlakuvana said.

According to Mhlakuvana, the stolen money was rapidly dispersed through multiple financial channels in an attempt to conceal its origin, prompting an investigation by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit.

The investigation found that the stolen funds had been channelled through Hollywoodbets accounts as part of a deliberate money laundering scheme.

“Persistent financial tracing techniques enabled investigators to reconstruct the movement of the illicit funds, resulting in the recovery of R797 312.02, which was restored to the complainant,” Mhlakuvana said.

The investigation led to the arrest of Mabaso and Mnguni in KwaZulu-Natal in 2025. They first appeared in the Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 23 June 2025, where they were each granted bail of R3,500.

After several court appearances, both accused pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and money laundering.

The court sentenced each accused to five years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years on condition that neither is convicted of fraud, money laundering or any offence involving dishonesty during the suspension period.

For sentencing purposes, the fraud and money laundering charges were taken together as one.

The court also ordered Mabaso to pay R100,000 in compensation to the complainant by 31 July this year, while Mnguni was ordered to pay R5,000 in compensation.

ALSO READ: Gqeberha payroll administrator granted R5,000 bail in multi-million-rand fraud case