A former bank employee has been arrested after allegedly defrauding clients by taking out loans in their names without their knowledge.
The suspect, 38-year-old Rachel Tsakani Bloko, is accused of fraud involving more than R130,000. Investigators say she used clients’ personal details to apply for loans, pocketing the money for herself. The victims only learned about the loans after being notified by the bank of unpaid accounts.
Bloko was arrested earlier this week on a warrant and appeared in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court, where she was granted R5,000 bail. The case has been postponed to October 22 for further investigation.
This incident comes shortly after another high-profile case where a bank teller and two colleagues were accused of embezzling nearly R4 million from client accounts. One of the suspects, Bonginkosi Praise Khoza, pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing in November.
Both cases have sparked fresh concerns about fraud within financial institutions and the need for tighter security measures to protect clients.