By Poloko Tau
The Bail hearing of a suspected member of an SMS banking fraud syndicate has been postponed, but not before the accused was left entangled in a web of his own contradictory statements.
Wearing expensive Bryan Husky jeans of Italian design, formal shoes and a leather jacket, Mbusi Bhengu, 28, struggled to remember his own residential address when asked in the Joburg Commercial Crime Court on Tuesday.
He also could not remember the name of his high school, his matric year or where his mother worked.
Bhengu agreed he owned a number of companies, including an events co-ordinating company. But, again, he could not remember any business addresses or when they were registered.
Clearly restless but trying hard to be relaxed, Bhengu denied being part of a syndicate through which R7 million had already been stolen from people's accounts.
Bhengu's co-accused and a Vodacom engineer, Mbokodana Christopher Khoza, 39, had already been granted R15 000 bail when the two appeared late last month.
He is accused of fraudulently diverting Vodacom subscribers' SMS notifications carrying one-time passwords (OTPs) from banks into duplicate SIM cards carried by syndicate members. This OTP would then be used to perform fraudulent transactions - stealing money from people's accounts.
Prosecutor Richard Chabalala also revealed to Bhengu that an MTN staff member, Suping Pooe, would testify that he gave him his bank details and later had R1m transferred into his account from Edna Kheswa's account.
"He will tell the court that you are responsible for the transfer," Chabalala said.
Bhengu has denied making a call to Nedbank on a cellphone, which he has agreed was his, to arrange for a withdrawal from Kheswa's account. During the call, he allegedly pretended that Kheswa was his mother.
A withdrawal statement was found in Bhengu's possession on his arrest on July 9.
Chabalala put it to him that he was a member of a syndicate led by a Nigerian man known as Greg Odowu.
"Your co-accused, (Mbokodana Christopher) Khoza, said you normally met at Sandton, where you were in the company of Nigerians drinking and smoking, and this is where transactions were normally performed," Chabalala said - which Bhengu denied.
The court was also shown a list of bank account numbers written under a heading "Mbuso's people", which was found in the car driven by Bhengu.
"Amounts of money were transferred by your syndicates from various bank accounts into 155 accounts of your syndicates," said Chabalala, which Bhengu again denied.
The bail hearing, which was opposed by the State, was postponed to August 19.