The alleged member of an international crime syndicate arrested in connection with the recent Internet banking scam has been accused of fraud in the past, and is living in SA illegally.
This is according to Herman Singh, director of technology engineering at Standard Bank, whose team worked closely with the Scorpions in a forensic investigation that culminated in the individual's arrest.
The man is understood to be a central figure in the scam, which would potentially have affected about 50 customers of Standard Bank and First National Bank (FNB).
It is understood the syndicate's servers were hosted in Estonia, and it was using South African public PCs to obtain banking details.
Prioritising the investigation
Scorpion's chief investigating officer Piet Pieterse has confirmed the individual originates from Nigeria, and that he was arrested on charges of fraud.
Pieterse declines to reveal further details. "The investigation is at a very sensitive stage and we don't want to alert the rest of the syndicate. We are prioritising the investigation," he states.
Hearing dates set
Appearing in a Cape Town court for the first time on Monday last week, the man was not asked to plead and the case was postponed to 30 June for a bail hearing.
"Bail will be opposed on the grounds that the individual is a flight risk," notes Singh.
"We are also under the impression he has been accused of fraud before," he says, but adds that he is uncertain as to whether the man has had previous convictions.
Investigations into the individual, and the involvement of four other people, who have been questioned by police, are still continuing, adds Singh.
Chris Kotze, FNB Online CEO, says two internal staff members have been working closely with the authorities. Eleven customers were compromised, he notes, but all the money lost has been reimbursed. It was not a huge amount, he adds.
Kotze believes there are other e-banking fraud syndicates in operation.
Durban plea
Meanwhile, last week in Durban, a 35-year-old IT specialist, Sipho Msomi, pleaded guilty in the city's commercial crime court to six charges under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, Msomi, who ran a computer school in Pinelands and an IT business in Ulundi, helped a syndicate defraud the KwaZulu-Natal departments of social development and public works of R50 000.
Msomi, it was alleged, downloaded Winspy, a key-logger program, onto the departments' PCs in January, enabling the syndicate to profit from creating false beneficiary accounts.
He was given a suspended sentence of four years for fraud. Msomi told prosecutors that he "now fears for his life".
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