A 35-year-old former Absa bank employee, Vuyani Sibusiso Dladla, was sentenced for fraud on Friday in the Thembalethu Regional Court.

Dladla had worked as ‘n sales consultant at Absa’s Garden Route Mall branch.

According to a statement issued yesterday by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Dladla was sentenced to a fine of R20 000 or 4 years imprisonment, wholly suspended for 5 years, plus three years correctional supervision.

According to the Hawks, Dladla’s illegal activities were discovered by Absa Bank’s regional forensic department after receiving complaints from its clients that they were getting calls from Absa about their loan payments that were in arrears.

A case of fraud and theft was then opened which resulted in the matter being referred to the Hawks.

Through an in-depth investigation by the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit of the Hawks in George, it was revealed that the accused had activated five dormant accounts of the bank’s clients to receive transactions from deceived clients during the period between December 2015 until January 2017.

Absa Bank suffered prejudice to an amount of R216 387 which Dladla used for his personal gain, according to the statement.