Details of how Dr Mohammed Nalla fell prey to fraudsters who withdrew and squandered more than R1.6m from a fraudulent Nedbank bank account into which the money was paid – part of a purchase price towards a house – have emerged in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) as the bank steadfastly refuses to refund him.

The Star reports Nalla claimed that he had lost more than R1.6m within days – all because Nedbank apparently failed to put checks and balances in place when they opened the fraudulent bank account for the account holder, who is said to be part of the scam.

The fraud was discovered three days later and reported to Nedbank.

The bank said that it then froze the account and ‘promptly’ paid R1 165 756 which was still in the account back to Nalla ‘to mitigate his losses’.

However, details of the account provided to court showed that the account was still active for about two days after Nedbank was said to have been alerted about the fraud and before Nalla was reimbursed with what was left in the account.

In his argument to court yesterday, Advocate Nazeer Cassim, SC, appearing for Nalla, maintained that Nedbank was negligent, did not adhere to Fica and was thus liable to pay Nalla.

The report notes judgment was reserved.

Full report in The Star