Nishani Singh, one of two siblings accused of defrauding Investec Bank of millions of rands, has died in hospital.
The Department of Correctional Services on Sunday confirmed that Singh died at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on Saturday. Her family has since been informed.
“She had been referred to an external hospital on numerous occasions for tertiary medical care,” said DCS national spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo.
“Correctional Services is unable to disclose the cause of death but such is made available to the family by the hospital.”
Singh and her brother Rushil Singh, were in custody on charges of fraud, forgery and uttering valued at R150 million, reportedly to fund their business in Ghana.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) accused the Singh siblings of fraudulently submitting phony Stanbic Guarantees while applying for an R35 million working capital facility.
They allegedly applied for a term loan arrangement worth more than R150 million in April 2021, while serving as directors of Big Business Innovations Group (Pty) Ltd from January 2021 to March 2023.
The Singhs, according to the Hawks, used up all of the working cash and violated the terms of the loan.
Captain Lloyd Ramovha, Hawks spokesperson, stated that Investec Bank demanded assurances from Stanbic Bank.
“It was then established that the two guarantees were obtained fraudulently. As a result, Stanbic suffered an actual loss of over R150 million,” he said.
Rushil was arrested on August 26 and Nishani handed herself over to police the following day.
They appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court and bail was denied.
The pair then lost their appeal against the court’s decision not to grant them bail as they were deemed flight risks.
Rushil remains in custody.
