Former Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) employee and fraud accused Obakeng Israel Busang’s bail application was postponed in the Johannesburg specialised commercial crimes court on Tuesday.
Judge Jerry van Vuuren postponed the matter to 11 December due to an overloaded court roll.
IT technician Busang was allegedly involved in siphoning off R42m from PostBank between December 2011 and January 2012. Money was transferred to 103 PostBank accounts opened in five provinces.
Prosecutor Richard Tshabalala said in the GMA case, Busang allegedly colluded with a syndicate to defraud the GMA.
The company stood to lose R800m had the transactions been successful.
The 30-year-old faces charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering and contravention of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.
Busang denied the charges during his bail application.
In his statement to the police upon his arrest, Busang said he was recruited by two men named Boni and Lethabo last year to help them gain access into the GMA system.
“I told them I was not interested, but later agreed to meet with them again when Boni called me,” Busang said in the statement that was read out by Tshabalala in court. “I was angry with my manager and the human resources department at that time.”
Boni told him he has a plan, and that he could be rewarded, he said. Lethabo sent him software which he uploaded on GMA desktops using his own laptop. Lethabo tried to activate an account on the system, but it was picked up and blocked.
“I asked Lethabo what happens next, he said he was very busy and would get back to me… he did not mention any amount of money to me,” read the statement. He said that was the last time he communicated with Lethabo. — Sapa
