Annica van Staden arrested
The former Middelburg estate agent, Annica van Staden, who has been sought after by the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime investigation team (Mpumalanga), has been arrested.
Her arrest comes after a statement issued by the Hawks, appealing to members of the public to assist in information on her whereabouts.
Van Staden was wanted by the authorities, facing charges of fraud after allegedly swindling supposed clients out of their money.
According to a statement issued by the Hawks, van Staden’s modus operandi was to sell RDP houses, repossessed houses as well as private properties in the vicinity of Middelburg, Witbank, Secunda and Kriel.
It is further alleged that Van Staden defrauded buyers who made payments of deposits and installments of the selling price into her business trust account.
She allegedly defrauded the buyers by not transferring the properties to their names and had to pay for home loans of the properties they never acquired.
Van Staden allegedly transferred money to other agents she employed, although none of them including herself were registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board.
Cases of fraud were registered in Middelburg.
•It has been made public that Van Staden was arrested through help of the public.
Media Spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Dineo Sekgotodi, said that a more detailed statement will follow.
