MOSSEL BAY NEWS - At least two cases of theft have been opened at the George and Mossel Bay police after large amounts of money allegedly went missing at the hands of a local security company that also transports cash.

This was confirmed earlier this week by the Southern Cape police spokesperson, Capt Malcolm Pojie.

One company in Mossel Bay reported a loss of more than R700 000, while a restaurant owner reported theft of more than R46 000. In two confirmed incidents, one in October and the other earlier this month, large amounts of money were collected from two different companies.

The money was supposed to either be paid into a bank account or into other business accounts related to the company, but the payments were allegedly never done.

According to information received by the George Herald, sister newspaper of the Mossel Bay Advertiser, cash would be collected at a business premises by a driver and another person, who transported it to the security company's cash processing centre. Here the owner would count and deposit the money into a bank account. From there the funds were supposed to be released to the clients immediately.

During the last few months, however, some of the clients started to realise that the cash collected by the security company appeared in their bank accounts later than expected, or payments were short.

One of the victims, a company in Mossel Bay selling various products including food, sweets and detergents, has filed a lawsuit against the owners of the security company in question.

The owner, who chooses to stay anonymous, told the Mossel Bay Advertiser, he had been making use of the security company for the past eight years. During October, as usual, the cash in transit truck collected money from the firm twice a week.

However, this money, nearly R700 000, was never paid over to the business's account. According to the owner, it is the first time in eight years that anything like this has happened.

"They simply say the money is gone and they do not know where it is. However, according to my knowledge, they have not yet opened a case of theft or fraud." She says the security company's lawyer wrote her a letter stating that the company's insurance will repay the money. "According to my knowledge, the company is not necessarily insured for that amount."

The Mossel Bay Advertiser is aware of at least four other companies that were also affected, but at the time of going to print not all of them could be reached.

The name of the security company in question is known to the Mossel Bay Advertiser but is being withheld pending the investigation.

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