Two men appeared in court yesterday for being in possession of Sassa cards worth an estimated R91-million.
Nhlanhla Robinson Mthethwa (51) and Dumisani Eric Buthelezi (46) appeared briefly on charges of theft and corruption after being arrested for being in possession of 495 illegal Sassa cards.
The Pietermaritzburg K9 D Relief Unit’s Warrant Officer, Imraan Shaik, and his team, along with PAC and Assist Me Now, responded to information received at around 7 pm on Saturday and made the arrests.
“D relief members acted immediately and took up positions at different points around the CBD area. A Hilux bakkie was intercepted travelling from Alex extension towards the N3 and was stopped near Ashburton. Two suspects were found in possession of the grant cards, a licensed firearm with 19 live Rounds and 84 FNB SIM cards among other items” said a source close to the matter.
The modus operandi used by the syndicate is commonly known as the eWallet scam, where the suspects would transfer money out the cards into the cell phone numbers linked to the sim cards.
Contact was made with Sassa investigations and the provincial task team will be taking over the investigation.
All the cards are valid till 2027 and the value per month is estimated at about R1-million.
The matter has been remanded to October 29 and the accused will remain in custody until then.
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