When his bank card expired, a wheelchair-bound man made the trip from his home in Motherwell to the FNB branch at the Pier 14 shopping mall hoping that a quick visit to the bank would enable him to sort out the issue.
He was so happy when a friendly Lusanda Qose called him over to her counter, took down his details and quickly helped him to renew his card and regain access to the pension lump sum he was saving to help him look after his grandchildren.
But the “friendly, helpful and trustworthy” bank employee proved to be exactly the opposite, as she secretly made a duplicate card for his account, accessed his online banking profile and proceeded to siphon close to a quarter of a million rand from the elderly paraplegic’s account.
“I was so shocked when I realised what was happening,” Mlungwana Maranti, 68, said as he was leaving the Gqeberha magistrate’s court on Wednesday.
“I trusted her and when I found out she was stealing my money I was so confused.
“How can people do that?
“She must go to prison for what she did.”
Over about two months in 2024, Qose, 34, managed to steal R239,720 from Maranti’s account.
The majority of the 83 fraudulent transactions were cash withdrawals from ATMs with the duplicate card she had made without Maranti's knowledge.
Sources close to the investigation, however, said Maranti’s case was just one of dozens of similar cases reported to the police recently where retirees and the elderly were being targeted after their pension lump sums were paid into their accounts.
Qose, who was convicted after she pleaded guilty to the charges in January, appeared in court on Wednesday where pre-sentencing proceedings were due to start.
The case was later postponed to April 22 for outstanding reports and testimony from other witnesses in mitigation and aggravation of sentence.
Maranti attended proceedings but was told that his testimony would only be heard when the matter returned to court on April 22.
Qose had pleaded guilty to numerous counts of fraud, cyber fraud, unlawful access in terms of the Cybercrimes Act, as well as the unlawful acquisition, possession, provision, and receipt or use of password, access code or similar data or device in terms of the Cybercrimes Act.
While working as a sales and service consultant at the Pier 14 branch of FNB, she created the impression that Maranti had given her permission to access his online profile.
Once she gained access to his profile, she changed the “In Contact” cellphone number to authorise transactions to her own number and proceeded to register a new bank card linked to Maranti’s account for her own use.
In her plea explanation, she admitted to accessing Maranti’s account without his consent.
“When a customer opens an account, we issue him with a sealed envelope which has a pin or secret code inside,” she told the court in her plea statement.
“I opened the envelope and that is how I got to see his pin code.
“I opened his account and gave him his bank card.
“I then used his personal information to open a second bank card, which I kept.”
By altering the number where Maranti received “In Contact” messages, she enabled herself to receive one-time pins (OTPs) directly to her phone that would allow her to authorise transactions on his account.
The transactions, between February 22 and April 15 2024, ranged from R200 to R5,000 and ultimately totalled R239,720.
An additional R5,698.80 was charged for banking fees during that period, bringing Maranti’s total loss to R245,518.80.
Prior to her conviction, she told the court she was a single mother of two and that the father of her children was unemployed and unable to contribute to their upbringing.
She could not cope financially and resorted to siphoning money from Maranti’s account to supplement her income.
After the court proceedings, Maranti said: “I still remember going to the bank that day.
“I was so happy when this lady helped me because she was kind and friendly.
“I really thought I could trust her.”
However, shortly after his visit to the bank he realised that he was no longer getting notifications from the bank on his cellphone.
He visited the FNB branch closest to his home in Motherwell for assistance and that is where he found out about a series of transactions he had never made.
“They explained to me about all this money being spent and I was so confused.
“I told them this was not me spending money and they told me it would be best if I go to the police and report a case.”
Maranti said as part of the investigation, the police showed him security footage from inside the bank of the day Qose helped him to renew his card.
“I was shocked when I realised who had stolen my money. She was so nice that it made no sense to me,” he said.
Maranti lost both his legs due to complications related to diabetes and has been in a wheelchair since 1999.
He continued to work and when his retirement fund paid out he placed a substantial sum into his bank account.
“This money was supposed to sustain me in my old age and help me look after my grandchildren.
“How can people just steal from others and think they can get away with it?”
After her conviction, Qose was dismissed from FNB and R87,000 was taken from her pension fund to recoup some of the complainant’s losses.
According to Maranti, the bank has also since reimbursed him and he received most of his money back.
“I am relieved that I got my money back but that does not excuse what she did,” he said.
“She stole from me when I trusted her. She deserves to go to jail.”
A source working within the police’s commercial crime investigation unit said cases like Maranti’s were fast becoming more prevalent as criminals preyed on the vulnerable and elderly.
“Particularly when older people, who are not very tech savvy, go to banks or other financial institutions, criminals identify them as potential targets.
“Like with this gentleman, the victims are unsure how internet and cellphone banking work, so they are easily duped into giving out their information or they are unaware when transactions are done without their consent.”
The source said the unit was investigating numerous similar cases in Nelson Mandela Bay and cautioned people to be careful when it came to protecting their online banking profiles.
The Herald
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