By Bahle Gama
Swift response and attention to detail have led to the arrest of two men who stole about E7.3 million from e-Mali.
The two men, Tewdros Asrat Asfaw of Pine Valley and Vusumuzi Mfanimpela Dlamini of the Mpini area made their first court appearance before Magistrate Chazile Thwala on Monday where they were remanded back to police custody pending committal at the High Court.
Asfaw was employed by Digi Money, a company contracted by e-Mali to provide IT services. He allegedly colluded with Dlamini, an IT Manager at Tibiyo Insurance Brokers to execute the fraud.
With the privileged access Asfaw had, he allegedly transferred money from an e-Mali wallet he created to local banks using Dlamini and his account as a conduit.
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During their court appearance before Magistrate Thwala, the crown applied that they are remanded back to custody pending committal at the High Court. They are set to return to court on March 3 for remand.
Eswatini Mobile’s Chief Operating Officer, Maloba Musenge has told the publication that it was due to the control measures that exist within the organisation and vigilance that the crime was picked up. Those include balancing systems.
Musenge said the daily balancing allows the organisation to safeguard and pick up the unauthorised movements of cash. It was during this process that they picked two e-Mali wallets and discovered they were generating the funds. Upon further investigations, the names associated with the wallets were established.
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“When we discovered some anomalies in some transactions, we instituted an investigation that led us to discover the fraudulent activities. Upon further investigations, we managed to track the flow of the money into several bank accounts held at various local banks. We then decided to report the matter to the police”, he said.
Police took over the investigations and established a prima facie case against the duo. They were then arrested and made their first court appearance in court on Monday.
Musenge said they would not be able to divulge any further information as it was before a court of law.
“The case is now before the courts of law and the wheels of justice will take their course”, he said.
