North West police have launched a manhunt for a man who presented himself as Zambian national, Felix Mugi, who is wanted in connected with defrauding an unsuspecting Mmabatho woman of R450,000 in a romance scam.
The woman met the scammer at a mall in Mahikeng on December 30, and the love relationship soon blossomed.
“The Zambian boyfriend introduced the victim to his aunt, who was believed to be spiritually gifted. The aunt told the victim, who is a nurse, that they (the lovebirds) are destined to make money and help people,” said North West provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone responding to a query from IOL.
“The aunt gave the victim a big empty trunk to take it home and told her that they need to pray over it, so that the ancestors can bless them with money,” Mokgwabone said.
“The three of them met again and the aunt asked the victim to guess how much was inside the trunk, but she did not say a word as she knew that there was no money inside, as they had not put money,” he said.
“The aunt opened the trunk and took out R200, and the victim was surprised. That is when they convinced her to get a loan from the bank and promised her that she will get it back as R3.8 million. The victim successfully applied for a loan and the money (was handed) to the suspect and the aunt.”
At the end of January this year, the boyfriend informed the North West woman that he was travelling to Botswana as they were preparing for their marriage. Later, the swindler informed the woman that he had been arrested.
As the North West woman’s anxiety peaked, police said she then went to check the boyfriend’s residence in Mmabatho Unit 10 and that was where she got the shock of her life – finding the empty house being renovated.
“The owner told her that the two were tenants and that they left Mmabatho for Pretoria. A case of fraud was opened at Mmabatho police station. The suspects are still at large,” said Mokgwabone.
In an interview with IOL, the scammed woman in her 50s requested that her identity be concealed. She said the boyfriend she knew as Felix, claimed to be 47 year old and the two had initially met inside Checkers shop at Mahikeng Mall.
“He told me that he was tired of doing shopping alone. So, for that reason, he needed someone whom he could marry and live with. I ignored him and went to the next aisle. He followed me and asked me for my cellphone number. I gave him my cellphone number, and he went to the tellers to pay for his groceries,” she said.
“While I was busy queuing to pay for my groceries, he came back to me and took out a large amount of cash. He gave me R50 and told me to buy a chocolate. Later, he sent me four photos of his. In the first photo, he was wearing an Eskom jacket, the other two photos he was wearing fancy suits and the other he was wearing casual wear.”
Later that day, Felix phoned the woman and professed his love.
“He told me that he loved me and that he fasted a week before he went to the mall to go and look for a future partner,” she told IOL.
On January 1, Felix phoned his new girlfriend and during the conversation, he mentioned that his aunt owns more than 100 houses in South Africa.
“He said he has been working in Dubai for 10 years at Eskom, and he has decided to take a transfer to come to Mahikeng to work close to his aunt. His aunt also owns shops in Zeerust, and she's also selling cars. But he said he was on leave for two weeks when we spoke,” she said.
When the woman initially visited the boyfriend’s home in Mmabatho, he gave her R100 “for petrol” as she was departing.
After three days, the woman was to be introduced to the so-called rich aunt referred to as Adena.
The unsuspecting nurse was introduced to a “prayer room” at the house where Adena was in charge of worship proceedings.
Daily prayer meetings were arranged and more “revelations” came from Adena, who recommended prayers and fasting for the lovebirds to be a successful couple.
One evening, the nurse was asked to open a large container which they had been praying over.
“When I opened it, it was full of money. The aunt reassured us that it was R19 million. She said she used to deal with a lot of cash many times when selling houses to Indian people,” said the woman.
“Thus, she said she is able to know what amount was in the container. She told us not to tell anyone about the money I saw in the container because people would be jealous. She also quoted a scripture in the Bible about that.”
One day, the nurse was told to apply for a cash loan, and that loan would be repaid with the money she saw in the container.
This, she was told, would be a way of depositing the cash into the bank without raising suspicion.
“They said they will buy me and my son houses because my son is old enough to own a house. They also said they were going to pay lobola for me,” she recounted.
At the end of January this year, the nurse applied for the cash loans and deposited the R450,000 into a bank account she had been given.
In days to come, Felix then told the nurse that he was travelling to Botswana, and days later, he informed her that he had been arrested for “unlawfully crossing the border”.
“Ultimately, his phone kept on ringing without being answered. His aunt's phone went straight to voicemail when I phoned her. I went to Mmabatho Unit 10 to check what was happening,” she said.
At the house, she then met the men who had been assigned to renovate the vacated property.
Earlier this week, IOL reported that police in North West had launched a manhunt for an audacious scammer who targeted a woman, who was a member of the South African Police Service (SAPS), pursued a romantic relationship with her, and later conned her of almost R3 million.
During the romantic relationship, the Ugandan national pretended to be a medical doctor, and swindled the unsuspecting police captain, aged 53.
IOL