GAUTENG – The Johannesburg based Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team has added Ayanda Windvoel in the growing list of arrested persons linked to more than R100 million Absa fraud case in which the now deceased Xolela Masebeni was allegedly instrumental in siphoning funds.

The team recently traced Windvoel who is attached to Pollsmor correctional facility after a transaction of R250 000-00 transferred into his Capitec bank account was flagged. The millions of rands were siphoned from the bank from 22 September to 31 December 2021.

Masebeni was arrested with his wife Athembile Mpani and her mother. The latest arrest brings the total number of people charged in this case to over a fifteen individuals. Masebeni was reportedly shot and killed in February 2022, outside his home at Ezibeleni.

Windvoel was arrested on Monday, 16 January 2023. He appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court today. The case was rolled over to Wednesday for a bail application. Meanwhile, the main case is scheduled for trial from 22 March 2023.

The Gauteng Provincial Head of the Hawks Major General Ebrahim Kadwa has praised the investigators for their meticulous work in ensuring that implicated individuals are brought to book.

Source: South African Police Service