The Police in Standerton have arrested seven suspects aged between 37 and 43 on charges of fraud.
The suspects were arrested in Standerton on Thursday 20 July 2023 around 13:00, after allegedly trying to defraud a bank of about R200 000.
One of the suspects is a female and according to the report she went to a certain financial institution on 20 July 2023, in Standerton then applied for a bank loan of about R200 000.
She allegedly produced some fraudulent documents, including a bank statement as prerequisite for a loan that she was reportedly applying for.
It is further alleged that whilst making this application, she was conniving with other six 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 men and women in Blue 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 seized for further investigation.
The seven suspects are faced with fraud charges and I 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 has welcomed the arrest of the suspects and applauded bank officials for the action that they took, to inform the police when they became suspicious.
