WALVIS BAY - A 30-year-old former police officer, who was arrested last weekend in Oranjemund for allegedly swindling a Walvis Bay businessman out of N$720 000, was denied bail when he appeared in court this week. 

Ricardo Nestor appeared before magistrate John Sindano on Tuesday in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court. 
He is facing charges of cyber fraud, forgery and uttering as well as money laundering.

 State prosecutor Maggie Shiyagaya-Lotto opposed bail for Nestor due to the seriousness of the matter and because investigations are still ongoing. He was denied bail and the case postponed to 5 March for further investigation. 

Crime investigations coordinator in Erongo, Deputy Commissioner Erastus Iikuyu this week identified the alleged scammed businessman as Mansinho Jose Dos Santos. 
According to Iikuyu, Nestor allegedly committed the online crimes between October and December 2019 at Walvis Bay. 

Nestor allegedly hacked the email account and replaced the banking details of Dos Santos with his own. 
“As a result N$720 000 was paid into Nestor’s account instead of that of Dos Santos,” Iikuyu explained. Nestor allegedly withdrew some of the stolen cash and also transferred some to a foreign financial institution in South Africa. 

Iikuyu this week indicated the police are currently busy tracing the money for recovery.