Johannesburg - One of three men accused of defrauding Vodacom clients also allegedly swindled over R2m from a firm of attorneys, it emerged in the Johannesburg Commercial Crime Court on Thursday.

A leg-shackled Mbusi Bhengu, accused of committing banking fraud of around R8m, faces additional charges for allegedly defrauding the attorneys of R2.4m.

The name of the firm was not disclosed. The court gallery was packed with black-robed lawyers carrying briefcases. Some had to standd in the corners as there were not enough seats.

Two women and two Nigerian nationals were allegedly Bhengu's accomplices. The four were arrested but were not in court on Thursday.

Prosecutor Richard Chabalala said it was alleged the money defrauded from the attorneys was transferred into the women's bank accounts.

This case was postponed to March 29 next year for trial in Court A.

On Thursday, 28-year-old Bhengu, who stood in the dock with Vodacom engineer Mbokodana Khoza and Gregory Oduore, was the only one in chains as he was still in custody. His co-accused, dressed smartly in suits, were out on extended bail.

Khoza allegedly used his job at Vodacom to defraud R1.8m from customers. Oduore is also charged with fraud.

Millions of rands stolen

Chabalala told the court the case was "complex" as more new complaints and charges were being laid against the accused.

"This is a complex matter... and unfortunately when accused one and two (Bhengu and Khoza) were arrested, the matter was placed on the roll. Since then, we have established dockets lying all over the country... in the Western Cape, in KwaZulu-Natal... all over. These are of people who lodged complaints.

"It is in the interest of justice that the prosecution be given time to investigate thoroughly."

Bhengu and Khoza allegedly formed part of a syndicate that stole millions of rands from clients of all four major banks - First National, Standard, Absa and Nedbank, as well as Capitec - by intercepting messages they sent to the cellphones of their customers.

Most clients were defrauded after their banking details were stolen through a method known as phishing - acquiring information such as passwords by masquerading as a legitimate business.

Khoza would allegedly intercept Vodacom clients' text messages to obtain banking details like pin numbers and passwords. To do this, he allegedly created a temporary SIM card which was a copy of the banking customer's. The syndicate would then have money transferred from the victim's bank account into their own and withdraw the money.

Through all this, all correspondence regarding transactions from the victims' accounts would be diverted to the duplicate SIM card in possession of the alleged fraudsters.

Bhengu, at an earlier appearance, denied collusion with Khoza and involvement in the fraud.

The court however heard that Bhengu allegedly sent several bank cards to Durban using the SA Airways courier service.

The case was postponed to February 10 next year for further investigation.

The two accused walked quickly out of court with their heads down as the lawyers stared at them.

- Sapa