Lentswe, Klerksdorp - Unathi Golimpi (31) appeared in the Klerksdorp Magistrates’ Court on charges of money laundering. According to W/O Amogelang Malwetse, spokesperson for the Hawks in North West, he was arrested on Friday March 22 during a sting operation conducted by the Klerksdorp-based Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team at Soshanguve. It is alleged that in April 2016, Tshepo Solomon Makatu (32) who was an employee for a cellphone company at Jubilee Mall, Hammanskraal at the time, defrauded the complainant by assisting unknown people to do a sim swop on the complainant’s cellphone that was used for internet banking without knowledge nor consent from the complainant.
“Makatu accessed the complainant’s banking app where he added two beneficiaries to his bank account profile. The amount of R820 000 was then transferred from the complainant’s account to an unknown bank account and subsequently laundered into various bank accounts unknown to the complainant,” said Malwetse.
Makatu and three other accused namely Thabo Zwane (31), Lwazi Mzilem (33) and Zitha Makitla (38) were arrested in January 2024. They were later granted R7 000 bail and their case is still ongoing.
Golimpi appeared in court on Monday March 25 and the matter was postponed to April 5 for formal bail application.
