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IOL News
10 hours ago
- Business
- IOL News
South African Post Bank scam leader appeals conviction and sentence
One of the ringleaders in a South African Post Bank scam turned to the Supreme Court of Appeal against one of his convictions and against what he deems to be a harsh sentence Image: Supplied One of the ringleaders behind a South African Post Bank scam, which targeted clients' bank accounts, turned to the Supreme Court of Appeal to appeal against the fact that he was twice convicted under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca), based on the same facts. He is also appealing against his 40-year imprisonment, which he says is shockingly harsh. In 2015, the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, sentenced nine fraudsters involved in the scam to an effective 1,680 years combined for defrauding the Post Bank, forgery and uttering, money laundering, and stealing from unsuspecting persons' accounts, as well as racketeering. Isaac Dithlakanyane, an enterprise owner and one of the main characters behind the scam, was sentenced to 50 years in jail. This was later reduced on appeal before the high court to 40 years behind bars. He colluded with eight Post Bank employees to open fraudulent accounts and deposit fraudulent pension pay-outs and stolen cheques. Dithlakanyane stole an amount of R2.2 million from the Post Bank, and he was convicted on 76 counts. Dithlakanyane turned to the SCA in a bid to have one of his convictions under Poca set aside, as he said the second conviction under this Act is based on the same set of facts and evidence, and it amounts to a splitting of convictions. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading He earlier received a sentence of 30 years in jail for the Poca conviction, which he now says is a duplicate charge. Dithlakanyane submitted that it was not only in the interests of justice for him, but for the prosecution and society at large for the appeal to be considered on this narrow question of law. The trial court earlier heard evidence that Dithlakanyane was part of a criminal enterprise which focused on looting the South African Post Bank. Corrupt Post Office employees were used as 'agents' who would identify bank accounts from which the members of the criminal enterprise could steal. Once they had identified the accounts with a sufficient credit balance, they would forward the information to Dithlakanyane. He then procured various documents, such as forged identification documents. A 'runner' was then chosen, who was prepared to falsely claim to be the account holder of the targeted account. The runner would then present the false documents to the Post Office Bank with demands for monies from genuine accounts. The evidence led during the trial showed that Dithlakanyane managed the criminal enterprise which preyed upon account holders. The SCA said it was clear from the evidence that Dithlakanyane was closely linked in time and place to the fraudulent transactions. However, the court found that he cannot be convicted on two Poca charges, based on the same evidence. The SCA subsequently overturned the first Poca conviction for which he had received 30 years.
IOL News
a day ago
- Business
- IOL News
SA Post Office, Post Bank face R7bn funding crisis as rescue practitioners prepare exit
This comes as the SAPO Business Rescue Practitioners prepare to exit the process, leaving the entity with a R1.7bn paper profit. Image: Independent Newspapers Archives Banele Ginidza Uncertainty surrounds the funding of about R7 billion needed to recapitalise both the South African Post Office (SAPO) and the Post Bank after National Treasury firmly ruled itself out as an option. This comes as the SAPO Business Rescue Practitioners prepare to exit the process, leaving the entity with a R1.7bn paper profit. During a briefing to Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Digital Technologies and Communications on Tueaday, SAPO's Group acting CEO, Fathima Gany, expressed the urgency of the situation. Gany said SAPO required R3.8bn to efficiently run its extensive network of 657 branches while integrating necessary digitisation capabilities. "The magic number is R3.8bn. It could be anything else, unfortunately the fiscus doesn't have the ability to give us that and we have to appreciate that. How do we get SAPO fit for business to operate in this futuristic space that's digitalised?" Gany said. "We don't know what the funding model will be as we go out to the market. It has to be a hybrid because if it's not a hybrid and we turn only to the fiscus and the answer is no, then its a futile discussion on how to get SAPO ready for business." Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Gany said the Post Office had settled all historical and outstanding debt through the business rescue process in a compromise that saw 12 cents to the rand paid out to the creditiors, with the remainder flushed into the profit and loss account. She said SAPO looked like it made profits but those were none cash profits, and they were on the back of expenses while there were some creditors in dispute and immaterial amount. Gany said SAPO was close to finalising a service-level agreement with the Post Bank in the services it delivers to it, and some of the commercial revenue streams envisaged from postal branches. Meanwhile, Post Bank acting CEO Nikki Mbengashe said it was unclear how the bank could structure the at least R3bn required for it to serve the identified niche. Mbengashe said one of the options was to obtain guarantees from the National Treasury to enable the bank to raise funding without necessarily diluting the shareholding. "How much funding do we need? A lot if we really want to build branches, if we want to build digital presence. We dont have ATMs, branches and the infrastructure we need to have to provide digital capabilities," Mbengashe said. "The minimum is R3bn. We have done that exercise, we are engaging with the board in our next meeting. We have no intention of privatising the Post Bank, but we do need funding therefore we need to find options. We have gone to the National Treasury three times and three times the National Treasury has said no."
