In a shocking turn of events, a 46-year-old North West woman, known as Zenani (a pseudonym for privacy), has been desperately seeking answers from First National Bank (FNB) after discovering that R520,000 from her pension disappeared from her account under mysterious circumstances.
Zenani, who had resigned from her job and planned to share the money with her family, first noticed the unusual transaction in November 2022. On November 3, after withdrawing R10,000 from the Swartruggens FNB branch, she checked her bank notifications to find an alarming R520,000 withdrawal had occurred the previous day — from a branch she had never visited, Northgate Shopping Centre in Johannesburg. Shocked and confused, Zenani immediately reached out to FNB, but the situation became even more perplexing.
Despite never having been to Northgate, FNB staff at Swartruggens confirmed that her bank card was used at the Johannesburg location for the withdrawal. Further, they revealed that Zenani’s withdrawal limit had mysteriously been increased without her consent. Even more baffling, the staff told her that a funeral cover policy had been opened in her name with her first-born child as a beneficiary.
Zenani’s quest for answers led her on a frustrating journey to multiple FNB branches and even the police. She filed a case at Swartruggens police station, which was transferred to Honeydew in Gauteng, only to receive little to no follow-up. Despite assurances from the authorities, Zenani’s case was eventually closed in November 2023. As the investigation into her case stalled, Zenani suspects that her former boyfriend, Ivan Tusime, who she met in 2022, may be at the center of the heist.
Zenani believes that Tusime, who claimed to be from Kenya, lured her into a web of manipulation, culminating in a series of disturbing events, including strange rituals in his rented home, which Zenani described as eerie and unsettling. After being forced to open an FNB account and apply for loans under pressure, Zenani’s life and finances spiraled out of control.
The case is part of a larger pattern of romance scams, where victims are manipulated into opening FNB accounts and transferring large sums of money. FNB has been under scrutiny after numerous victims, including Keneilwe, a woman who lost R2 million of her pension, accused the bank of not doing enough to protect them from these scams.
While FNB maintains that they are committed to fraud detection and prevention, victims like Zenani and Keneilwe argue that the bank’s procedures are inadequate in protecting their funds. As the investigation continues, many question how such large-scale scams can go undetected and why FNB has not been more proactive in safeguarding its clients.
