Johannesburg - The cash van guard accused of stashing his alleged ill-gotten R1.5 million on a relative’s property appeared briefly in court on Wednesday, looking unperturbed and suave in a brown jacket.
Independent Media reported on Wednesday morning of how a Fidelity Cash Solutions (FCS) security guard – who we can name as Mbangiseni Rapholo – was fingered by a reliable source to have been the one to have been behind the stash of money dug up on Monday evening by Ekurhuleni police.
Fidelity was initially coy about whether Rapholo was their employee, but confirmed to Independent Media on Wednesday that the accused was an FCS worker, who is under suspension.
Read: Guard’s R1m #CITheist stash
Rapholo and his co-accused, Clement Motsotsi, are accused of swindling R6m from FCS after making collections from clients, but returning with cash bags which were short, the company told Independent.
This relates to an incident at FCS’s Germiston branch, where the money was supposedly stolen, and the accused made their second appearance in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court.
The case was postponed to Thursday morning, where a third suspect is expected to be added to the case, and for a formal bail application.
The State, through its prosecutor Babatsang Mokhachane, have indicated that they will oppose bail.
Johan Booysen, FCS’s national head of investigations, told Independent Media that although internal theft was regrettable and unfortunate, this was a relatively small part of the current cash-in-transit challenge.
“We have invested so much energy and resource into securing our assets and protecting and vetting our people that we seldom experience problems. In the event there is a problem, it is well managed with swift consequences as demonstrated in this case,” Booysen emphasised.
* For more on this story, read The Star newspaper on Thursday.
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