Mziwakhe Khumalo, 33, a former bank employee, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud, money laundering, and violating the Electronic Communication Transaction Act 25 of 2002.
On August 8, the Gqeberha New Law Court condemned Khumalo.
Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana, a spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (known as the Hawks), stated that his sentencing took place after he was detained by the Hawks’ Gqeberha Serious Commercial Investigation on September 29, 2021.
He appeared in court the same day and was given bail. His co-accused, Lwando Dingiswayo, was also serving his sentence.
“During the period between 2017 and 2018, Khumalo and Dingiswayo unlawfully and intentionally accessed then changed the contact information of the victim’s bank account who was in Germany during the period without his authorisation,” Mhlakuvana told the BBC.
“The accused further changed the existing signing authority on the account and made new signing authority to Dingiswayo.”
The accused utilized a bogus account to transfer funds from the victim’s investment account, resulting in a financial loss of R400,000.
During that period, the accused attempted to transfer additional funds, but was unsuccessful. During these failed attempts, the victim was almost cheated of over R4.8 million in cash.
Khumalo had several court appearances before being condemned by the Gqeberha New Law Court on August 8.
He was sentenced to 15 years in jail for fraud, six years for money laundering, and one year for violating Section 25 of the Electronic Communication and Transaction Act of 2002.
In addition, all sentences will run simultaneously. Khumalo will spend 15 years in direct jail.
