A 61-year-old man from KwaZulu-Natal has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme.
Yunus Mulla appeared in Durban’s Specialized Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday where the sentence was handed down.
Charges
Hawks Spokesman Captain Simphiwe Mlonga said the court convicted Mulu of multiple charges of fraud, breach of the Banking Act, the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act and money laundering.
“Between 2013 and 2015, Moola recruited people to invest in his company called Carmol Distributors. He claimed that his company trades in petrol and diesel. Mullah promised investors a monthly return of 2 to 8 percent.”
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“It was discovered that the company was not registered to operate as a financial institution,” Mlonga said.
A case of fraud was registered at the Durban North Police Station and the case was referred to the Durban Serious Commercial Crime Unit for further investigation.
Arrest
Mlonga added that Mula was handcuffed in 2016 and appeared in court several times until he was found guilty in November last year.
“He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for more than 3,700 counts of fraud, five years in prison for more than 4,000 counts of violating the Banking Act, five years in prison for more than 3,700 counts of violating the Financial Advice Service and mediation. Act.”
Sentence
Mlongo said the sentences will run concurrently.
“Mullah was also sentenced to eight years in prison on 11,397 counts of money laundering, of which three years will run concurrently with ten years of fraud. He faces 15 years in prison,” he said.
In 2018, Art Sunday tribune reported how Chatsworth’s widow fought for four years after her late husband invested his savings in an alleged Ponzi scheme run by Moolla’s Carmol Distributors.
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