While we are not quite yet at full-blown mafia state, there are elements within the state and parts of government that are run indirectly by organised crime, writes Mandy Wiener.
Vital piece of information after assassination of Gauteng Department of Health Acting Chief Financial Officer Babita Deokaran enables investigators to trace a vehicle at the scene to a former South African National Defence Force member residing in the Pretoria area.
The South African attorney arrested and charged with embezzlement of more than R1.4 million in Mauritius has been hauled before the Legal Practice Council (LPC), where a disciplinary process is under way.
Whether police had the intelligence before the protests erupted, they were never going to control the widespread looting and riots.
This is the view of security and crime expert Chad Thomas.
The CEO of a reality TV production company has agreed to plead guilty to defrauding a lender out of $2 million, prosecutors said Tuesday.
If you missed either of the Boereverneukers episodes featuring IRS, then click on the link and watch! Two very bizarre stories.
Allie Alberts
Richard Barry Nel
We recently saw the recent developments made by investigations conducted by law firm Bowmans and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) relating to dodgy tenders at Eskom over the past 10 years resulting in a R178 billion graft. The investigations found a slush fund created by former executives where they had monies paid for various aspects of their lives. One of the cases involves a company named Tubular construction which supplied services to Eskom over contracts worth R1,2 billion and a multinational company called Babinatlou Business Solutions which also received millions. How are monies located and traced? Joining us to discuss this is Investigator at IRS Forensic Investigators, Chad Thomas.
The wife of Pofadder hotelier Leon Brits has been arrested in connection with his murder last year, police said on Monday.
According to police spokesperson Captain Sergio Kock, provincial organised crime detectives and other stakeholders arrested his widow at around 08:45 in Marchand, Kakamas.
Bitcoin’s price rocketed more than eleven-fold to break past the barrier of $60 000 (R896 000) from a low of $5 300 during the Covid-19 financial crisis.
The currency, however, decreased in value to $56 000 on Monday.
This follows the downfall of various schemes claiming to trade in cryptocurrencies. The most recent is the application to liquidate MTI. It is said that about 100 000 South African and international investors will lose R6 billion after the CEO of MTI, Johann Steynberg allegedly fled to Brazil in December last year, never to be seen again, since then.
Apparently Steynberg is the only one with access to the investments. MTI was provisionally liquidated after Steynberg disappeared and it will hear at the end of May whether the company will be put under final liquidation, which created scepticism under some investors.
But the latest increase caused even sceptics to look with renewed interest to the cryptocurrency.
Despite Monday’s pullback, many investors believe the outlook for Bitcoin’s price remains tilted to the upside.
However, investors should really be careful, cautions private forensic investigator, Chad Thomas.
According to Thomas the digital nature of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies makes it the ideal product for conmen and scammers.
The currency cannot be regulated through financial statements and other measures that protects investors against losing their money in other investments, Thomas told Izak du Plessis. Watch the video.
Watch part 1 of the Special Assignment insert into serial fraudster, Tracey Morrison, which aired on SABC on 2 March 2021. Part 2 will be during this coming Tuesday 9 March 2021 on SABC.
Financial crime costs the economy billions and criminals are always finding new ways to syphon money while keeping their hands clean. Desperate South Africans have been complicit in money laundering by naively selling their bank accounts and personal information to cyber criminals for a small fee, oblivious to the long-term repercussions.
The Hawks are investigating a case of fraud involving up to R5-million in a so-called cryptocurrency investment scheme that was run by a company called Trinity Tokens in Mossel Bay.
