Old age home on its knees
‘Safety net’ of R1.2m stolen through bank account fraud, writes Shaun Gillham
Residents of a Nelson Mandela Bay home for senior citizens are moving closer to a financial knife’s edge as they await the completion of a police investigation into the theft of about R1,2m from the home’s Absa banking account over the Easter weekend this year.
Vice-chair of the board of the Rosa Munch Home in Uitenhage, Ivan Ingram, told Weekend Post on Friday that in the absence of the home’s R1,2m “safety net”, finances were being increasingly stressed, particularly as the number of paying residents there had dropped, while staff numbers were retained.
The theft, which is being investigated by police in Uitenhage, came ahead of Absa Bank’s rebranding as an independent African banking institution in July, during which several other cases of banking fraud, also involving Absa, were reported.
Port Elizabeth police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu told reporters earlier that several cases had been opened in July and during the time that Absa was rolling out its new branding.
It is suspected that fraudsters used the rebranding opportunity, during which time the bank changed logos and other brand hallmarks, to defraud account holders.
Uitenhage police spokesperson Captain Gerda Swart confirmed on Friday that police were still investigating the Rosa Munch Home case.
“The investigation is ongoing and is taking some time due to various administrative requirements. This includes requests for documentation from various institutions,” she said.
While the home, following months of waiting, managed to recover more than R300,000 of its April bank balance, Absa has indicated it would not reimburse the home the outstanding almost R1m.
The home is now awaiting the results of the police investigation and an outcome from the bank ombudsman, which it had approached after failing to recover the remainder of its money.
The two outcomes, according to Ingram, would dictate the home’s course in its attempts to recover its monies.
“We may have to then file a civil suit against the bank to recover the money,” he said.
Outlining the events around the theft, Ingram said a staff member had received messages during the early hours of Easter Monday on April 2.
He said the staff member saw they were from the bank, but did not suspect that anything was untoward and therefore did not scrutinise them immediately because of the late hour they were received.
“These were received between midnight and 5am. The disappearance of the money was noted later in the morning after which the bank was then immediately contacted,” said Ingram, adding that money had been transferred to other accounts in a series of transfers.
“The account was stopped when the theft was discovered, but it was too late. We then had to wait until June before we received any money back from the bank. The bank told us that that portion of the money [the more than R300,000] had been transferred to a Capitec account. What we can’t understand is that if it was possible to trace and recover that portion of the money, why can’t they recover the rest?” he said.
In its June 20 response to inquiries from the home, Absa advised it had completed its investigation and “the amount of R316, 338.42 was the only amount recovered from the fraudulent beneficiary accounts and was credited to the above [home’s] account. It would appear from your statement of events that you were a victim of crime. Absa regrets your experience,” said the bank.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
FREE TO READ | Just register if you’re new, or sign in.
Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@heraldlive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.