A Gauteng couple who allegedly stole R15 million from a man made their first appearance in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
The Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigations (known as Hawks) said Mark Dean Kitchenbrand, 53, and Naomie Elizabeth Kitchenbrand, 57, were each granted R10 000 bail.
According to the Hawks, the couple allegedly convinced the complainant to invest in their company called Rendquip Financial Solutions and promised him shares and lucrative returns.
“Between 2015 and 2019, the unsuspecting investor allegedly made numerous deposits into the suspects’ business account and additional payments in cash,” said provincial Hawks spokesperson Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso.
“It is further alleged the investor never received the returns and the shares as promised, propelling him to report the matter to the police.”
He said the matter was referred to the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigations.
The matter was adjourned until January 31 for further investigation.
In another incident, two high-flying Durban bankers who allegedly ran a multi-million-rand Ponzi scheme that defrauded scores of pensioners and retirees across South Africa, have been arrested.
Brandon Naicker, aka Muruvan Egambaram, and Jason Pillay, who ran insurance brokerage firms called Infiniti and Branson Capital, respectively, have appeared in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court for allegedly defrauding an investor of R2 million.
They are awaiting bail.
IOL News