An Eastern Cape man has been found guilty of fraud and contravening the Identification Act after attempting to register late estate bank accounts to pocket investment money from the dead.
Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana said Kenneth Graham Wahl, 64, had been found guilty of the charges against him on Wednesday after making several appearances in the Gqeberha commercial crimes court.
Wahl and his former co-accused Theron Mamelane, 43, used fraudulent identity cards of legitimate late estate executors when they recorded the estates of two people on the Master of High Court’s database to open fraudulent late estate bank accounts.
Mhlakuvana said Alan Grey Asset Management, who has investments for one of the deceased, had been contacted by Wahl and Mamelane who requested that R4m of the investment money be paid into one of the fraudulent Absa bank accounts .
On June 2 2022, Wahl and Mamelane contacted the national deceased estate department in respect of the other deceased person and requested an amount of R1.1m of the deceased person’s investment to be paid into another fraudulent account.
“The Absa Forensic Investigation Division started their internal investigation and picked up some discrepancies then the matter was referred to the Hawks for further probing.
“The investigation confirmed the duo as the culprits in opening fraudulent bank accounts and the failed attempts to prejudice the investment companies of more than R5m,” Mhlakuvana said.
Video footage and photographs of Wahl and Mamelane were circulated to various Absa bank branches which led to their arrest on June 7 2022.
Mamelane has since died.
Wahl’s sentencing proceedings are expected to get under way on August 28.
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