Pretoria - The Kwaggafontein Regional Court in Mpumalanga has remanded 44-year-old Aubrey Lepala Tlala in custody, after he was re-arrested for not showing up at an earlier scheduled court appearance on charges of theft.
“Tlala was initially arrested by the Hawks’ serious commercial investigation team based in Middelburg for theft related charges amounting to R3 million allegedly stolen from an automated teller machine on 02 November 2012,” said Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation [Hawks] in Mpumalanga.
She said Tlala was employed by a branch of First National Bank in Kwaggafontein as a manager at the time of the offence.
“He made several court appearances but failed to appear in court on 10 October 2021 where the matter was set down for judgement. A warrant for his arrest was consequently secured and executed on Monday 25 October 2021,” said Sekgotodi.
“He is expected to make a follow-up appearance on 22 November at the same court.”
Earlier this month, a KwaZulu-Natal based bank employee convicted of vehicle fraud amounting to R4 382 000 was sentenced to three years of correctional supervision and a R100 000 fine.
Kevin Neil Lloyd, 42, was convicted on eight counts of fraud in the Durban Magistrate’s Court.
According to Hawks spokesperson Simphiwe Mhlongo the fraud to place in March 2009.
“Lloyd who was employed as an official in one of the banks in Durban processed fraudulent vehicle finance applications.
“The applications involved false payslips and addresses of the applicants.
“The applications were used to apply for vehicle finance in one of the car dealerships in Ballito. The bank protocol and procedures were not complied with and purchase prices were inflated.
“As a result, eight luxury vehicles were purchased and the bank suffered a loss of R4 382 000,” said Mhlongo at the time.
IOL