Palesa Montana (27), Natasha Nakedi (33) and Shirinda Mitimba (33) appeared before the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 15 March 2021 following their arrest on Friday, 12 March 2021.
The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation is investigating a case of fraud and identity fraud after the trio allegedly attempted to defraud Metropolitan Municipality of almost R400 million.
It’s alleged that the three accused walked into an Absa branch in Rustenburg and pretended to be Board of Directors for City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.
They allegedly presented fraudulent documents and ordered the transfer of almost R400 million to be wired into 14 different trust accounts.
The documents presented to the bank were however confirmed as fraudulent and the matter was reported to the police who then detained the three accused.
The matter was postponed to 24 March 2021 for formal bail application.
