Suspect nabbed in connection with R1.2m hotel scam

A 27-year-old old man has been nabbed by the Hawks in the Eastern Cape for allegedly scamming a hotel owner through a fraudulent speed point machine scheme.

The suspect was arrested on Monday on charges of fraud and made his first appearance in the Mthatha Regional Court on Wednesday.

“It is alleged that the complainant, a Tsomo hotel owner, was approached by someone who introduced himself as an employee of Yoco Technology (Pty) Ltd. The person is reported to have sold three speed point machines for R3 500 to the complainant,” said Hawks Eastern Cape spokesperson Yolisa Mgolodela.

“The investigations ensued and revealed that the bank account where the sales money was going into belonged to the arrested suspect residing in Kidd’s Beach (outside East London). The transactions worth R1.2 million took place between July and September 2023. The investigations culminated in the arrest of the suspect on September 23, 2024.”

In a separate incident, the Gqeberha High court on Friday sentenced 30-year-old Andile Nyoka to 57 years’ direct imprisonment for the murder of a police officer, armed robbery and kidnapping.

Detailing the incidents, Hawks spokesperson Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana said Nyoka was before the Motherwell Magistrate’s Court on May 3 for another matter when he approached an on-duty police official, Sergeant Mario Nell, 40, who was a court orderly at the time.

“Nyoka, with no reason, started to fight the officer and disarmed him of his service pistol.”

According to Mhlakuvana, he shot the officer who succumbed to his wounds.

“Sergeant Nell was declared deceased at the scene. Nyoka fled the scene and hijacked a taxi outside the court in an attempt to escape. A few minutes later on the same day, he was apprehended inside the taxi by the Motherwell Visible Policing and appeared before court where he was remanded in custody.

“The docket was handed over to the Hawks for a thorough probe,” Mhlakuvana said.

Cape Times