The National Prosecuting Authority\u2019s (NPA) Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) obtained an urgent preservation of property order emanating from a sophisticated online banking scam involving some R21.55 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The money was allegedly fraudulently diverted from the bank account of a Middelburg-based company, Jormid, by a scammer earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn 21 May 2026, Jormid\u2019s financial manager, Mrs Jordaan, received WhatsApp messages on her cellphone purporting to be from the company\u2019s banking institution, ABSA Bank.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe messages indicated that \u2018suspicious transactions\u2019 had been detected on Jormid\u2019s business account and requested her to confirm whether she had authorised them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter responding that she did not recognise the transactions, Jordaan received a telephone call from an individual claiming to be an official from ABSA Bank\u2019s Fraud Division,” said NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The caller requested her assistance in cancelling the alleged suspicious transactions,\u201d NPA Regional Spokesperson Monica Nyuswa explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the call, Jordaan was instructed to approve electronic links sent to her phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile still communicating with the scammer, Jordaan was informed by a colleague that several substantial transactions, amounting to approximately R21.55 million, had been processed from Jormid\u2019s bank account without authorisation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJordaan immediately reported the matter to ABSA\u2019s Fraud Department and subsequently opened a criminal case with the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Middelburg,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The matter was then referred to the NPA AFU, which initiated an investigation and submitted an urgent intervention to the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FIC promptly issued directives to ABSA bank to freeze funds held in nine bank accounts which were suspected to have received the proceeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cArmed with the evidence gathered during the investigation and the FIC\u2019s intervention, the AFU approached the Middelburg High Court on an urgent ex parte basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It successfully obtained a preservation of property order against the nine ABSA Bank accounts on 12 June 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe order prevents the dissipation of the suspected proceeds of crime, valued at approximately R21.55 million, pending the finalisation of forfeiture proceedings before the High Court,\u201d Nyuswa added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A criminal investigation is ongoing with suspects expected to be arrested and charged with offences including fraud, theft and money laundering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe NPA remains committed to combating cybercrime, safeguarding the interests of victims and ensuring that the proceeds of unlawful activities are preserved and ultimately forfeited in accordance with the law,\u201d Nyuswa said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A high profile banking scam struck Middelburg-based engineering firm Jormid, with scammers making off with R21.55 million after a series of phone calls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":340921,"featured_media":654431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[99794,105955,19372,13553,105958,29885,105956,105957,97518,17084],"class_list":["post-654429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security","tag-absa-bank","tag-asset-forfeiture-unit","tag-bank-fraud","tag-bank-scam","tag-cellular-bank-fraud","tag-high-court","tag-mobile-bank-scam","tag-monica-nyuswa","tag-national-prosecuting-authority","tag-south-african-police-service"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654429"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/340921"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654429"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654471,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654429\/revisions\/654471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}