Johannesburg - A man helped a syndicate hack into his employer’s system to try to defraud it of about R800 million because he was angry at his boss and the human resources manager.
In a warning statement that Israel Busang furnished to the police immediately after his arrest, he said it was rage that made him let outsiders gain access into Gautrain Management Agency’s system and accessed its accounts.
This was revealed on Tuesday in the Johannesburg Commercial Crime Court during Busang’s bail application.
Busang, 30, faces various charges including fraud, corruption and money laundering.
It has not yet been established if there was any money taken from Gautrain.
The State claims that this was not the first time Busang worked with a syndicate to defraud companies.
Prosecutor Richard Chabalala said Busang was part of the syndicate that robbed Post Bank of R42m in January 2012. The money was deposited into 103 bank accounts, he added.
Of the money, R265 000 was placed into Busang’s account. He had allegedly increased the daily limit on his account a few days before Post Bank was defrauded.
Four people were arrested, tried and sentenced for that crime, but Busang was not among them.
He was arrested two weeks ago in connection with the Gautrain case.
Busang said in his bail application that he was innocent of all charges because at the time the crime was committed he was no longer working for the Gautrain Management Agency.
He claimed the investigating officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Reynold Links, had assaulted and threatened him, saying he would detain him at a place where he would not be found.
“That scared the lights out of me. Due to fear, I signed a blank document that he put in front of me. I do not know what was in that document. I did not sign it willingly, I was under duress,” he said in an affidavit read out by his lawyer.
However, a warning statement he signed after his arrest contradicted his affidavit. In it, Busang said a man known as Bonnie had asked him to introduce him to the Gautrain system and promised that he would reward him.
Busang told Bonnie he was not interested, according to the statement. However, this changed when his line manager, Henry Denner, and the human resources manager angered him.
“I decided to meet him (Bonnie). He was with a guy called Lethabo from Centurion and he said I should introduce him (Lethabo) to the system.”
He said the last time he spoke to Lethabo was on November 5. Busang was arrested and his laptop confiscated.
Bonnie had promised to reward him for his help, but had not indicated how much the reward would be.
Busang also complained about the bad prison conditions. “There are mice and cockroaches, blankets are dirty, the food is stale and makes my tummy run and there is no hot water.”
The matter was adjourned.
The Star