Two siblings, Nishani Singh, 51, and her brother Rushil Singh, 40, have been denied bail after they were arrested and charged for fraud, forgery, and uttering by the Johannesburg-based Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks.
The duo appeared before the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Wednesday, seeking release on bail, where they are facing charges of R150 million fraud, according to Gauteng spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Lloyd Ramovha.
The matter emanates from a case that was registered at Sandton police station in March 2023 and allocated to the Hawks for investigation.
“It is alleged that during the period of January 2021 to March 2023, the pair, directors of Big Business Innovations Group (Pty) Ltd fraudulently submitted false Stanbic guarantees when they applied for working capital facility of R35 million,” said Ramovha.
They additionally applied for a loan agreement of over R150 million on April 2021.
“Consequently, when they exhausted the working capital facility and breached the term loan agreement, Investec Bank demanded guarantees from Stanbic. It was then established that the two guarantees were obtained fraudulently. As a result, Stanbic suffered an actual loss of over R150 million,” said Ramovha.
Rushil was arrested on Monday, while Nishani handed herself to the Hawks on Tuesday.
On Wednesday morning, Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court Magistrate Phindi Keswa stated that she concurs with the State, that the siblings are a flight risk and they could vanish if released on bail. She therefore denied the duo bail.
The matter was postponed to September 4.
IOL