Consultant in R27m cyber heist convicted

A senior First National Bank employee, who stole her colleagues’ pin and passwords in a R27.3 million Christmas eve cyber heist, was found guilty of fraud in the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court this week.

Appearing before magistrate A Ramlal, Morwesi Theledi, 27, was convicted of one count of fraud and two contraventions of section 86 (1) of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act of 2002 for having intentionally accessed or intercepted data without authority or permission, after a long trial involving 18 witnesses. The victim was Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI).

According to the charge sheet Theledi, who was employed at FNB Southgate Branch as a multi-skilled consultant on December 24, 2009, misrepresented to FNB and her colleagues that ABI had “authorised or instructed” lawful payments in the ordinary course of its business and that her colleagues had authorised the three payments on the bank’s Karabo system.

An amount of R27 million was transferred into the account of Franciscus Richards, a second amount of R150 000 was transferred to an account in the name of Gafa Gafa enterprises and R150 000 was transferred into an account in the name of Morafane Constructions.

Theledi had used a key logger to steal the pin and password of two colleagues to gain access to ABI’s bank account.

The police received information about a suspicious transaction on December 25 and contacted FNB, which immediately took steps to reverse the three transactions.

“The bulk of these amounts was recovered through the swift and pro-active conduct of law enforcement officials and FNB employees. There was an actual loss in the amount R18 870.26,” the charge sheet said. Theledi was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on February 29.

FNB spokesman Stephen Higgins said Theledi had been suspended a few days after the incident and was then dismissed. He said ABI had been reimbursed for its loss.

“FNB’s fraud prevention technologies detected the transactions and an FNB forensic team worked through Christmas Day 2009, to reverse the transactions and gather evidence.

“FNB uses early detection and monitoring software. The bank was working closely with the SAPS to ensure that the evidence was sound and would form the basis of a successful conviction,” Higgins said.

“The bank has continually upgraded its defensive software and audit procedures to remain ahead of fraud techniques. FNB has an ‘always prosecute’ policy with regard to fraud,” Higgins said.

This week’s conviction follows Post Bank’s R42m cyber heist earlier this month.

SA Banking Risk Information Centre CEO Kalyani Pillay, reacting to the judgment yesterday, said she commended the criminal justice system for arrests and convictions in bank related incidents.

Pillay said she was unable to confirm the overall cost of cyber heists in recent years, but cases in which clients had fallen victim to electronic banking scams amounted to around R46m in 2011. This gave an indication of the scale of cyber crimes. – Independent on Saturday

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Consultant in R27m cyber heist convicted