By: Natasha Archary
The Hawks has made further arrests in connection to the R99 debit order scam. This time a father and son duo from Durban who are suspected to be part of the scam which amounted to R125 million.
Ravendra Singh (50) and his son Andrew (26) who operate a call-centre in Durban were arrested on Wednesday, 4 May in Johannesburg.
The father and son duo are implicated in the R99 debit order scam which involved unauthorised transactions across different banks.
Tracking the duo down was done through a forensic investigation orchestrated by the banks that were affected.
Reports showed that unsanctioned debit orders were carried out by call-centre companies.
Ravendra and his son had allegedly created a fraudulent bank payment system to debit South African’s accounts.
The R99 debit order scam was run between November 2018 and February 2019.
According to Hawks spokesperson, Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu, the duo handed themselves over to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation in Johannesburg.
“They were subsequently charged with fraud. On the same day, the pair appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. Both father and son were released on bail of R30 000 each.”
In March, Jason Foster, the director of Durban-based call centres Blue Debit and Talent Base, was arrested at OR Tambo International airport.
Foster was the second person arrested in relation to the debit order scam.
His co-accused, Richard Marsden was arrested last year in Cape Town after he had landed from London.
The additional arrests come just in time as the case is expected to resume in court on 27 May.
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