RSS 2.0 FeedFebruary 2010 vol 6
Zim link to multi-million rand SA Scam
SOUTH African police investigating a car crash involving kwaito star Mandoza have reportedly stumbled on a sophisticated asset fraud scam worth millions of Rand and said to involve Zimbabweans.
SOUTH African police investigating a car crash involving kwaito star Mandoza have reportedly stumbled on a sophisticated asset fraud scam worth millions of Rand and said to involve Zimbabweans. Mandoza whose real name is Mduduzi Tshabalala was rescued from the mangled remains of a mini cooper that had smashed a palm tree in Johannesburg two weeks ago. The alleged owner of the vehicle who was said to be behind the wheel at the time of the incident gave police the slip as investigations into a case of reckless and negligent driving were launched. However the South African newspapers reported that during the investigation police stumbled upon a sophisticated asset fraud outfit that has allegedly swindled the country's banks of millions of rands. A police spokesman told the Sunday Times that one of the eight individuals arrested in the course of the investigation was the man who claimed to own the Mini Cooper. The newspaper added that Mandoza's neighbour is also a suspect and at least eight men were expected to appear in court on fraud charges. A person close to the investigation said the suspects were believed to be from Zimbabwe. They were allegedly involved in a scheme which entailed creating fake identity documents, businesses and bank accounts allegedly showing they were creditworthy so as to obtain finance to buy cars and property, which were then resold. "Once the banks started to look into it, they could not trace the home-owner because of false identification," an insider said. On the day the eight suspects were apprehended, police seized two Audi TT sports cars, 12 fake identity documents and pending finance applications worth R12.9 million. The gang's modus operandi was to take ownership of the cars using false names, re-register them, and then sell them in South Africa or across the border. It is believed that the Mini Cooper Mandoza was in when the crash occurred was also registered in a false name and that instalments had not been paid on it for the past nine months. Police however said they believed Mandoza was a passenger in the vehicle.
