MBOMBELA – Mr Wade Morgan Williams (30) looked nervous as he sat in the accused dock on Tuesday afternoon after allegedly kidnapping a colleague and fleeing with a large amount of money.
He was arrested on Sunday morning on charges of theft, kidnapping, pointing of a firearm and vehicle theft. He worked in the finance department of Londolozi Game Reserve and had apparently kidnapped a colleague in order to gain access to the reserve’s money. It was not his employer as initially stated by the police.
He threatened the employee while they were in the office and demanded that he disclose the PIN to his online bank account.
When he refused, Williams apparently tied him up and took him to a nearby bush where he was again threatened at gunpoint. He eventually gave in out of fear for his life and provided his PIN number.
Williams left the man, who didn’t sustain any injuriess, in the bush. It is further alleged that he then transferred nearly R5 million into his own bank account and stole over R200 000 in cash. He then fled with the employee’s Land Rover Discovery 4.
Lowvelder spoke to Mr Chris Kane-Berman, general manager of the reserve, who said they could not comment on the incident as he felt it could jeopardise the case. “We are just glad that no one got hurt and everything is back to normal,” Kane-Berman said.
Williams is still in custody and will appear in the White River Magistrate’s Court on April 15 and in Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court the following day where he will apply for bail. According to Col Leonard Hlati, the case may be centralised after his bail hearing.
