The Amahlathi local municipality was duped into paying more than R1-million into a bank account belonging to a fraudster posing as a service provider.
The con artist, who pretended to be a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) official, persuaded acting chief financial officer (CFO) Ntabetemba Nokwe to change the banking details used by the municipality to pay PwC.
PwC helps manage and draft financial statements and provides other finance services.
Municipal documents seen by the Daily Dispatch show that the first transaction of R203354 was made in March, and another amounting to R314000 was made in April.
This was followed by a third payment of R513000 on May 4, while the last two payments were made on the same day – the first amounting to R193000 and another to R23000.
The cash-strapped local municipality, which falls under Amathole District Municipality, has now opened a case with the Stutterheim police.
Police spokeswoman Captain Siphokazi Mawisa confirmed that a case of fraud had been opened.
Amahlathi municipal manager Balisa Socikwa on Tuesday said a probe was under way to try and determine what had happened.
“We can confirm that this fraud happened, but the other part is that it’s the bank that opened the bogus account. The account was opened at ABSA by this person, making this more complex.
“We do not know where exactly the problem is because the bank opened the account.
“So they will have to assist us in soliciting who is the actual owner of the account,” Socikwa said.
He said that the bank had subsequently frozen the account. However, of the R1.1-million that had been fraudulently transferred to the bogus bank account, only R400000 remained.
Commenting on the incident early this week PwC national spokeswoman Sanchia Temkin confirmed the company was aware of the incident.
“ when we followed up on outstanding payments from the municipality.
“We are engaging the municipality on this,” she said.
A document seen by the Daily Dispatch shows how the well-organised fraud had been executed by deceiving municipal officials into changing PwC’s bank details.
The documents show that someone claiming to be a PwC official called the payment section of the municipality requesting that their banking details be changed.
A letter sent to the municipality, purportedly from PwC, confirmed the bogus banking details.
The letter has a signature of someone claiming to be PwC’s national director Carelo Koekemoer, and a contact person by the name of Nicky Wayne.
No such people are employed by PwC.
In a letter dated June 14 to Amahlathi mayor, municipal manager Balisa Socikwa says the fraudster also forwarded a new bank confirmation.
“The account was then changed after submission of the required document. It was only after PwC phoned requesting their overdue payment…then it was observed that the account that was used did not belong to PwC.
“It has just become clear that the money was transferred to a bogus account,” the letter reads.
After approving the new banking details, the municipality began making payments due to PwC using the bogus account. — siphem@dispatch.co.za
Scam dupes council into paying R1m
The con artist, who pretended to be a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) official, persuaded acting chief financial officer (CFO) Ntabetemba Nokwe to change the banking details used by the municipality to pay PwC.
PwC helps manage and draft financial statements and provides other finance services.
Municipal documents seen by the Daily Dispatch show that the first transaction of R203354 was made in March, and another amounting to R314000 was made in April.
This was followed by a third payment of R513000 on May 4, while the last two payments were made on the same day – the first amounting to R193000 and another to R23000.
The cash-strapped local municipality, which falls under Amathole District Municipality, has now opened a case with the Stutterheim police.
Police spokeswoman Captain Siphokazi Mawisa confirmed that a case of fraud had been opened.
Amahlathi municipal manager Balisa Socikwa on Tuesday said a probe was under way to try and determine what had happened.
“We can confirm that this fraud happened, but the other part is that it’s the bank that opened the bogus account. The account was opened at ABSA by this person, making this more complex.
“We do not know where exactly the problem is because the bank opened the account.
“So they will have to assist us in soliciting who is the actual owner of the account,” Socikwa said.
He said that the bank had subsequently frozen the account. However, of the R1.1-million that had been fraudulently transferred to the bogus bank account, only R400000 remained.
Commenting on the incident early this week PwC national spokeswoman Sanchia Temkin confirmed the company was aware of the incident.
“ when we followed up on outstanding payments from the municipality.
“We are engaging the municipality on this,” she said.
A document seen by the Daily Dispatch shows how the well-organised fraud had been executed by deceiving municipal officials into changing PwC’s bank details.
The documents show that someone claiming to be a PwC official called the payment section of the municipality requesting that their banking details be changed.
A letter sent to the municipality, purportedly from PwC, confirmed the bogus banking details.
The letter has a signature of someone claiming to be PwC’s national director Carelo Koekemoer, and a contact person by the name of Nicky Wayne.
No such people are employed by PwC.
In a letter dated June 14 to Amahlathi mayor, municipal manager Balisa Socikwa says the fraudster also forwarded a new bank confirmation.
“The account was then changed after submission of the required document. It was only after PwC phoned requesting their overdue payment…then it was observed that the account that was used did not belong to PwC.
“It has just become clear that the money was transferred to a bogus account,” the letter reads.
After approving the new banking details, the municipality began making payments due to PwC using the bogus account. — siphem@dispatch.co.za
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