Cape Town - Welcome Marcus and his accomplice arguably pulled off one of the easiest bank heists the country has seen in recent years, when they made off with R3 million without a commotion in 2018.
Dressed in security uniforms, they went into a Nedbank branch on Anderson Street in Klerksdorp where they claimed they were there to collect money, on April 11, 2018.
They were given the cash and left the bank.
It was only after they had left that the bank officials realised that the pair were bogus security officials.
The Hawks were roped in and their investigation led to their arrest in Joburg on May 13 that year.
They made their first appearance in court facing charges of theft and were each released on R30 000 bail.
The case was later dropped against the second accused while Marcus made several court appearances until he was ultimately convicted.
The 55-year-old was on Wednesday sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by the Stilfontein Regional Court for theft.
“The provincial head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in North West, Major-General Patrick Mbotho, thanked the investigation team for its great work and further lauded the work by the National Prosecuting Authority for the conviction,” said police spokesperson Tlangelani Rikhotso.
For Khumo Maleshane, his luck ran out fast after he was arrested the same day he allegedly committed a cash-in-transit robbery about 5km from Wolmaransstad on January 5 this year.
He was arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation assisted by members of SAPS Crime Intelligence, K9 unit and Visible Policing in Potchefstroom and appeared before the Wolmaransstad Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
“It is alleged that on Thursday, January 5, at approximately 7.10am, a group of suspects rammed into a cash van that was en route to Wolmaransstad from Klerksdorp causing the cash van to veer off the road.
“The armed suspects allegedly then bombed the cash van and made off with an undisclosed amount of money and two firearms belonging to the security officers.
“A manhunt was immediately launched which led to the arrest of the accused within a couple of hours.
“He was arrested around 1pm in Potchefstroom after he was found in a vehicle that allegedly fitted the description of one of the vehicles at the crime scene.
“He was also reportedly found in possession of a bag with over R60 000 in cash.
“Both the vehicle and the money were seized for further investigation,” Rikhotso said.
While his accomplices are yet to be arrested, Maleshane faced charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted murder, malicious damage to property and contravention of the Explosives Act.
His case was postponed until Friday.
Anyone with information about the incident can anonymously contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the MySAPS mobile App.
Cape Times