Third suspect in R103m Absa theft arrested while in court for allegedly stealing R3.4m from Capitec

• A third person has been arrested in connection with R103 million stolen from Absa.
• The man was arrested in a Cape Town court while appearing in another matter relating to R3.4 million stolen from Capitec.
• The Hawks say R74 million of the stolen R103 million was transferred into the man's account.

The Hawks have arrested a third person believed to be part of a group who stole R103 million from Absa.

Gershom Matomane was arrested on Thursday in Cape Town, and allegations are that R74 million of the money allegedly stolen by Absa' specialist engineer Xolela Masebani was transferred into his account.

Matomane, 29, is said to be related to Masebani. 

Gauteng Hawks spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu said Matomane was arrested at the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court where he was appearing on another matter relating to fraud.

"He faces charges of fraud and theft in Cape Town for allegedly stealing R3.4 million from Capitec. Allegations are that in 2018, when he was working as a software engineer, he stole the money from Capitec. At the time, Masebani was also working at Santam with Matomane, but is not involved in the matter."

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Matomane appeared in court, but his matter was postponed to Thursday.

On Monday, Masebani, 31, and his 21-year-old girlfriend Athembile Mpani appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court for a bail application.

It is alleged that Masebani, who worked in Sandton, stole R103 million from the bank and allegedly transferred the money into six different bank accounts over four months between September and December 2021.

Mulami said information at their disposal is that Matomane also stole the money from Capitec using the same modus operandi.

According to Mulamu, they found that Masebani had bought two properties with cash in Khayelitsha - one for R730 000 and the other for R580 000.

"We have now involved the Assets Forfeiture Unit to simultaneously investigate this with us so that whatever was bought with proceeds of of crime be forfeited to the State."