File photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi File photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi
Northern Cape - Banking institutions in Kimberley were the target of criminals in at least two separate incidents in the last week.
The Kimberley police are investigating a case of theft, after a woman, posing as a bank official, offered to assist a customer, wanting to deposit money, to circumvent Saturday’s long bank queues.
Police spokesman, Lieutenant Olebogeng Tawana, said on Sunday that a Kimberley man, whose identity could not be revealed because he was a theft victim, was robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash, inside a banking institution in the CBD. It is believed that the incident happened at Absa but the bank’s spokesman could not be reached for comment.
“A neatly dressed woman impersonated a bank official and approached the victim, offering to assist him with his deposit because the queue inside the bank was very long.”
Tawana said that the victim believed that the woman was a bank official and handed over a large sum of cash, trusting that she would assist him in circumventing the long queue.
“The woman apparently took the money and told the man to wait while she processed his deposit transaction. She then went into an office inside the bank.”
The man became suspicious when he realised that the woman was not coming out to finalise the transaction. “He approached authentic officials at the bank and alerted them but the woman had disappeared with his money.”
The incident was reported to the police for investigation and according to Tawana, preliminary investigations indicate that the woman had impersonated a bank official.
No one has yet been arrested in this regard and the police are appealing to anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of the suspect to contact the Kimberley detective branch office on 053 838 4100 or 08600 10111.
Meanwhile, the Hawks in Kimberley pounced on a 23-year-old man who tried to defraud a well-known bank at a city mall recently.
Police spokesman, Lieutenant Sergio Kock, said the bank manager, who suspected that something was amiss on the identity document and the payslip of the specific client, alerted the bank’s forensic department on Tuesday afternoon.
“The man was requested to return the following day in order to verify this suspicion.”
Kock said the necessary verification was done and the police were alerted to the falsified documents.
“The male suspect returned to the bank on Friday at approximately 9am and he accepted the loan of R120 000, which he qualified for according to the falsified payslip.”
The Hawks pounced on him and he was arrested in the bank.
“The bank officials involved and the police officers are applauded for their vigilance.” Kock said the police would be keeping a watchful eye for these types of criminal acts.
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