RUNDU – A FNB staff member appeared in the Rundu Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges of fraud of N$42 000. He allegedly helped himself to funds belonging to a pensioner who banks with the FNB Rundu branch.
The accused, Du Preez Le-Aldo Franklin, made his first court appearance on Friday following his detention on Thursday last week.
“He used to constantly withdraw money from the pensioner’s account without the pensioner’s knowledge. The credit manager picked it up after becoming suspicious of the transactions and called in the pensioner who confirmed she was unaware of the transactions made on her account, while she only did a transaction of N$8 000 in October,” stated Detective Inspector Hendricks Mulele of the CID of the Namibian Police for Kavango West and Kavango East. The suspect appeared in court on charges of fraud before magistrate Esme Molefe, while Albert Titus prosecuted.
The case was remanded to November 19 for further investigation. The accused was granted bail of N$5 000 on condition he does not leave the Rundu district without the prior knowledge of the investigating officer. Another condition is that he should report every Friday at the Rundu Police Station between 09h00 and 16h00.
“People must be aware of their accounts, they must not trust bank employees as they can be sweet-talkers. They would want you to always come to their till for assistance and by that they will blind you because you trust them. They are helping you only to find out they have been withdrawing money from your account,” Mulele cautioned the public.
Last month, another two former FNB employees appeared in the Rundu Magistrate’s Court on charges related to fraud of N$2 million of state funds belonging to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Safety and Security, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health and Social Services.
Their case was also postponed to November 19, for the two suspects to engage private lawyers and for further investigations.
They were both granted bail of N$30 000 each with similar conditions attached.