EASTERN CAPE – Deon Kisten Chetty (54) appeared before Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 31 October 2023. Chetty was arrested by Bizana based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team of the Hawks together with National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on 30 October 2023 for allegations of fraud. Then charges against his co-accused Kunnaperan Gounden (73) were withdrawn subsequent to his arrest on 19 January 2023.
In 2015, it is alleged that Chetty colluded with Gounden to fraudulently inflate his monthly salary payslip to an amount of R14 000, enabling Gounden to qualify for a vehicle finance at Nedbank. During that period, Gounden was employed as a security officer. The allegations further reveal that Chetty organised a car dealership, where he allegedly fraudulently submitted a vehicle finance application. Moreover, the reports indicated that the bank subsequently approved the application to purchase a motor vehicle which was a Jeep commander 3.0 Limited. Therefore, Gounden reportedly received cashback for purchasing the vehicle.
According to the revelations, Nedbank delivered the vehicle successfully through misrepresentation made by the duo. However, further information exposed that Chetty deliberately took the vehicle from Gounden and sold it to someone else on monthly instalments of R7500-00 a month. Their alleged plan was to get the vehicle finance approved, receive the car, and then disappear with it, even though the vehicle still belonged to the bank. Then consequent to the misrepresentation made by the duo, Nedbank suffered a total financial prejudice of R375 000. Then the matter was reported to Bizana based SCCI of the Hawks for investigation.
On 06 October 2018, the investigation revealed that the vehicle was being driven by someone else and discovered that it displayed a fraudulent licence disc. On 19 January 2023, Gounden was eventually apprehended by the team of investigators. Gounden was then released on warning and he made several court appearances.
Through investigation Chetty was traced and ultimately arrested in Durban by the team of SCCI of the Hawks on 30 October 2023. Chetty made his court appearance in Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 31 October 2023 and was released on R10 000 bail. The case has been remanded to 8 December 2023 for docket content.
Source: saps.gov.za