VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. — Storey County detectives have arrested multiple people from out-of-state in connection to a major fraud investigation in Virginia City.
Elderly residents in the Virginia City Highlands were targeted in May 2025 by fraud suspects who posed as federal agents and bank fraud investigators, according to the Storey County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators said the suspects defrauded victims of a “substantially large amount of cash.”
RELATED: Storey County fraud investigation leads to Florida arrest
Detectives said the suspects traveled from Broward County, Florida, to victims’ addresses in Storey County, where they obtained cash and other valuable items.
Florida suspect extradited to Nevada in connection to a fraud case out of Storey County. (Credit: Storey County Sheriff’s Office)
After what the sheriff’s office described as an extensive investigation, Storey County…
THE ISUZU MOTORS PAYROLL FRAUD (GQEBERHA, SA)
Date: February 16, 2026 Perpetrator: Natasja Slabbert (42)
Case Description: In a case that hit home for the Eastern Cape business community, Natasja Slabbert, a payroll administrator at Isuzu Motors South Africa’s Struandale plant, was arrested for an alleged R10.5 million fraud. The scheme, which began surfacing in late 2024, exploited the very systems designed to manage employee compensation. Slabbert allegedly manipulated payroll records to create false entries that appeared as legitimate deductions and contributions on employee payslips. In reality, these “deductions” were being diverted into her personal bank account.
The fraud was only uncovered after diligent employees noticed that their net “take-home” pay was significantly lower than expected, despite the gross amounts on their payslips remaining high. Following a thorough probe by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team and the NPA’s Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, it was discovered that in August 2024 alone, over R626,000 was unlawfully transferred. Slabbert was granted bail of R5,000 on February 17, 2026, and the case has been postponed to later in the month for further legal proceedings. This case highlights the critical need for “segregation of duties” in payroll departments, as a single point of failure allowed for the systematic siphoning of millions over nearly two years.
Link to Original: PE Express – Isuzu Payroll Fraud