Three suspects, Phumeza Mbana (40), Brian Kibirige (31) and Nasifu Walakira (31) have appeared in the East London Magistrate court for allegedly defrauding a 61-year-old retired teacher of approximately R1,2 million.
The three were arrested by the Serious Commercial Crime unit of the Hawks on Thursday last week in Port Elizabeth and appeared in the cities New Law court the following day.
They're additional suspects to three other suspects who were arrested in East London last week Wednesday for the same crime.
All six suspects, except for Mbana, are foreign nationals.
It is alleged that the 61-year-old woman from Lusikisiki visited a bank in Oxford Street, East London, to withdraw a large amount of money. A manager at the bank got suspicious and contacted the Hawks to investigate the matter as that was not the first time the woman had made a huge withdrawal.
Hawks members arrived at the scene and interviewed the 61-year-old who confessed she was withdrawing money for the suspects. She also revealed that she had already given the suspects approximately R1,2 million and that one of them was her traditional healer while another one was her boyfriend.
