419 scam hits SA cabinet

2004-07-16 10:12

Philip de Bruin

Johannesburg - Nearly the entire South African cabinet is being dragged into a new fraudulent scam of the Nigerian 419 syndicate. An amount of R250m is being used as bait.

Photos of the ministers who are unwittingly being involved (under false names), are published on a website where they are portrayed as directors or senior managers of First National Bank (FNB).

The ministers involved include Marthinus van Schalkwyk (Robert Kelp, Chief Executive Officer - FNB Investment Products), Alec Erwin (Patrick Maguire Goss, independent non-executive director), Trevor Manuel (David John Alistair Craig - independent non-executive director, Britain), Geraldine Frazer-Moleketi (Nicole James), Sydney Mufamadi (Keneth Ludianes, investment analyst) and Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (Vivian Wade Bartlett, executive director).

The scam came to light for the first time when a group of people, known as Scambaiters, sent information about it to the commercial crimes unit of the police in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Scambaiters infiltrate 419 fraud syndicates worldwide and gain information about new "schemes". They hand this information over to the relevant country's police.

R250m "unclaimed"

The scheme is linked to a letter that the syndicate sends from America to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

In the letter, it states that a South African died and that there is R250m unclaimed in his bank account.

The "organisation" then asks recipients of the letter to pose as family. When the inheritance is transferred to America, those who helped the "organisation" will receive 10% of the inheritance.

However, to make all of this possible, people who fall for the scam should first open a bank account with "FNB in South Africa". For this they have to deposit $5 000 in the "organisation's" bank account (to cover the cost of opening a foreign bank account).

Each person who falls into the trap in actual fact deposits $5 000 in the fraud syndicate's account.

To give prospective "investors" the opportunity to check the credentials of FNB, they are referred to a website where the photos of local politicians appear as FNB officials. The website also carries an application form, on an FNB letterhead, to open a bank account in South Africa.

After people complete this form and deposit the $5 000, the "organisation" informs the victims that FNB South Africa requires a lawyer to assist the "new client". The "new client" therefore has to deposit a further $10 000 in the "organisation's" account.

After that, the victims never hear from them again. Meanwhile, they are out of pocket by between $10 000 to $100 000.

The commercial crimes unit is investigating the scheme. It has also been brought to the attention of the department of justice.

- Beeld