An out on bail ‘facata’ scammer has been re-arrested for allegedly defrauding members of the public over E33 000.
Sandile Bandzile Matsenjwa (31) of KaBhudla appeared before Principal Magistrate Florence Msibi at the Manzini Magistrate’s Court yesterday where he was charged with 30 counts of defrauding unsuspecting Emaswati their hard-earned monies and one count of contempt of court.
He allegedly failed to appear in court despite being duly warned to do so, shortly after he had been granted bail.
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The 30 counts that Matsenjwa faces comprises of theft by false pretences, contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act of 2018, the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention) Act of 2011, and the Computer Crime and Cybercrime Act 6 of 2022.
In most of the charges, Matsenjwa is said to have impersonated bank officials by informing his unsuspecting victims that their accounts were under cybercrime attack, therefore, they should provide him with their banking credentials so that he could assist them to avoid having their accounts being hacked.
He allegedly used their banking credentials to remotely withdraw his victims’ monies from their accounts. When his right to legal representation was explained to him, Matsenjwa chose to hire the services of an attorney. When asked if his lawyer was present in court, he responded to the contrary.
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The lawyer he claimed to have secured his services was called but he denied having an agreement with Matsenjwa that he will represent him.
Matsenjwa asked the court to allow him secure the services of another lawyer, a plea that was granted by the court.
The prosecutor indicated that he wanted to make an application to have some of the items which Matsenjwa was found in possession of confiscated for investigation purposes since they were believed to have been used in the commission of the criminal offence.
The items included cellphones and SIM cards. However, Matsenjwa insisted that such application should be made in the presence of his lawyer.
He was remanded into custody until November 12.
The prosecutor stated that the aforementioned application would be made on November 12, whether or not his attorney was present because it was for investigation purposes and thus cannot be deferred.
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