Former G4S employee in court for R110 000 cash theft and fraud scheme

A 32-year-old man, who was employed by security company G4S, is expected to make his second court appearance today in connection with a theft of cash case in the George Magistrate's Court. 

Dimitri Winwaai made his first court appearance yesterday after he was arrested on Monday morning as he was accused of stealing a cash bag with R110 000 in July 2023. 

Winwaai was arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team based in George. 

Hawks spokesperson, Zinzi Hani, said the matter was rolled over to today for a legal representative to be appointed.

“It was reported that on the day of the incident, a retail store in Knysna enquired at SBV, George, about a pick-up that was done by G4S Cash Solutions on 10 July 2023. One of the three money bags that was collected by G4S, containing R110 000, did not reflect in their SBV store account.

“An internal investigation was conducted by G4S and their system showed that the three bags of money were received at the G4S base on 10 July 2023 and were delivered to SBV the following day, for them to deposit into the client account. However, according to SBV, this particular money bag was not received by them from G4S,” said Hani. 

Further investigation conducted by G4S discovered that the internal software in use at G4S had been manipulated to show that the missing money bag had been delivered to SBV.

According to Hani, an examination of the G4S documentation showed that the missing money bag had been fraudulently added to the receipt received from SBV on July 11, 2023.

“Through an intensive investigation, it was discovered that an employee of G4S was the one who produced the forged receipt when he was questioned about the whereabouts of the missing money bag. A case docket was registered on 2 August 2023 at George SAPS and was referred to the Hawks for further investigation,” said Hani.

On completion of the investigation, the matter was referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and a decision was taken to prosecute the suspect. 

The Hawks’ Provincial Head of the Western Cape, Major General Mathipa Makgato, welcomed the arrest and lauded the members who ensured that the suspect was found.

chevon.booysen@inl.co.za