PRETORIA - A 38-year-old former member of the SANDF, Sipho Msiza, has been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for fraud committed in 2015, the Hawks said on Tuesday.
The Hawks’ Mpumalanga spokesperson, Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, said Msiza was sentenced by the Middelburg Regional Court on Monday.
“On January 13, 2015, the accused presented a cloned bank card for payment of a cellphone amounting to R6 500 at one of the shops in Middelburg. During the payment the manager noticed a discrepancy with the card and called the police,” said Sekgotodi.
After a thorough search of Msiza, the police found additional cloned cards.
“Three more cloned cards were found in his possession. He was arrested and charged for contravention of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.”
The case was transferred to the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation team in Middelburg for further investigation, which resulted in Msiza being convicted and sentenced.
Earlier this week, the SAPS in Western Cape said a 36-year-old SANDF member was arrested for his alleged involvement in a cash-in-transit heist at a petrol station in Oudtshoorn.
According to Western Cape police spokesperson Zinzi Hani, the robbery took place on July 19.
Hani said the SANDF member, who is a captain attached to the Infantry School in Oudtshoorn, was arrested on July 23 and will be the fourth suspect to be charged in the matter.
The arrest was made in a joint operation between the Hawks national priority violent crimes team and the Attaqua K9 Unit from Oudtshoorn.
African News Agency