Durban - THE charges against one of the 11 co-accused in a R27 million fraud case was dropped.
Kaylin Salik, 24, was arrested and charged with fraud last February.
The other accused were Cam-Aron Aidan Pillay, 20, Junaid Khan, 24, Fatima Ershad, 43, Kevin Pillay, 33, Rajesh Dewduth, 39, Dhanraj Ramsunder, 44, Wendy Mvundla, 23, Malvin Valayundan, 31, Nadine Govindasamy, 41, and Govindma Moonsamy, 58.
All the suspects, except for Govindasamy, were arrested by members of the Provincial Commercial Crime Investigation Unit and metro police in various operations in Chatsworth, Phoenix, Stanger and Durban North. Govindasamy handed herself over to the police a few days later.
Fifteen luxury vehicles, valued at R15m, were seized.
Investigations by Standard Bank revealed that the suspects allegedly handed in fraudulent documents in a bid to obtain motor vehicle loans.
They allegedly used the money to purchase luxury vehicles.
The accused, who were each out on bail of R1000, made multiple appearances in the Durban Magistrate’s Court relating to 22 counts of fraud.
However, yesterday, the charges against Salik were dropped due to a lack of evidence.
The other 10 accused will appear for a pre-trial conference next month.
The POST earlier reported that that State prosecutor Yuri Gangai told the court that investigations by Standard Bank revealed that the suspects had allegedly handed in fraudulent documents in a bid to obtain a motor vehicle loan.
This loan, he said, was approved by the bank employee, who has since been fired from her job. Sources close to the investigation said her arrest was imminent