NATIONAL NEWS - The Polokwane Magistrate’s Court granted former bank employee Rachel Tsakani Bloko bail of R5 000 on Tuesday for alleged fraud.
The Bloko, 38, was arrested in Polokwane on Monday on charges of R130 000 fraud.
According to Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba, Bloko used the personal information of bank clients without their knowledge to apply for personal loans. The victims only became aware of the loans after the bank informed them of unpaid accounts.
A warrant of arrest was issued, leading to her arrest.
The case was investigated by the provincial Commercial Crime Investigation Unit.
The case was postponed to 24 October 2025 for further investigation.
Bank fraud
This is not the first case of its kind. Bank employees have been convicted of similar crimes in the past.
In July, the Gqeberha Regional Court sentenced Lusanda Gloria Qose, 35, to five years in prison for her role in a fraud scheme involving the unlawful access and manipulation of a customer’s banking profile.
NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said Qose, a former sales and service consultant at FNB in Gqeberha, was convicted of fraud, cyber fraud and the unlawful use of access credentials following her abuse of internal banking systems between 22 January and 24 April 2024.
The complainant, a 68-year-old man, held an Encore account linked to a Money Maximiser account and a registered cellphone number used for authorising transactions via FNB’s InContact system.
Qose unlawfully changed his cellphone number on the bank’s system using her employee credentials, diverting all One-Time-Pin (OTP) authorisations to herself without the complainant’s knowledge or consent.
She further created a second bank card linked to the complainant’s accounts, which she used to transfer funds from the Money Maximiser account to the Encore account and conduct multiple ATM withdrawals over a three-month period.
The victim lost R245 000 as a result. The bank ultimately refunded the complainant and absorbed the financial loss.
The court found that Qose’s actions were premeditated and sophisticated, involving multiple system breaches over an extended period. She pleaded guilty to all charges, citing financial distress as her motive.
She repaid R87 000 through a deduction from her pension fund and expressed remorse for her actions.
Article: Caxton publication, The Citizen
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