Pretoria - The Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Court has released 36-year-old Ronald Llewellyn Van Wyk on R5 000 bail after he was arrested for fraud amounting to R1.2 million.
Gauteng Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha said Van Wyk, who was employed by Net1 as a Smart Life IT manager, allegedly created and uploaded 19 fictitious policies on behalf of the company’s deceased clients.
“Ronald Llewellyn Van Wyk, 36, was arrested on a warrant following a Hawks serious commercial crime investigation that exposed his alleged role in siphoning R1.2 million from Net 1 Financial Services,” Ramovha narrated.
The Hawks said Van Wyk, after creating the fake policies, would then approach grieving families and request their deceased relatives’ details.
In getting the deceased people’s information, Van Wyk would allegedly promise the families that his company would pay for the funeral groceries.
“With the sourced credentials, he reportedly manipulated the system, uploaded claims reflecting credit or backdated monthly premiums. The money would be paid into bank accounts of the beneficiary uploaded by him,” said Ramovha.
“He (Van Wyk) would approach them (the grieving families) afterwards, stating that there was an overpayment, and they needed to return a certain amount back to him.”
Ramovha said in granting Van Wyk bail, the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Court postponed the matter to 10 May, when the accused man will return to court.
IOL