Is it the season of the swindler? South Africa has been engrossed in the sordid tales of con artists such as Tasneem Moosa, who allegedly managed to take off with approximately R34.2 million in holidaymakers’ hard-earned cash.
However, getting defrauded is nothing new, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. The Netflix documentary, The Tinder Swindler proved that people would go to the ends of bankruptcy to ensure they protect the one they love from “enemies.”
While not enough to greenlight a Netflix documentary, not yet anyway, a 40-year-old woman has fallen victim to “Mr Allen Grey” who managed to swindle R1.9 million from her.
Mr Grey, or rather, Omotese Ebor allegedly posed as a prominent businessman from the Western Cape but was soon apprehended by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in Gauteng, as per IOL.
Whether you believe in God or the Universe, as if to prove a point, “Mr Grey” was reportedly apprehended while attending a church service in Sandton on Sunday.
A tale as old as time; like all good romance stories, the lovestruck woman met her potential partner on social media, who introduced himself as Mr Allen Grey. The “relationship” took place between December 2016 and January 2018.
However, not long after their romance began, Provincial Hawks spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu indicated that the accused began borrowing money.
“She reportedly borrowed approximately R1.9 million for the stated period, stating that his bank accounts were hacked,” she said.
According to Mulamu, at one point, the woman had reportedly transferred R857 000 into “Mr Grey’s” account. After being conned out of nearly R1 million, the woman decided to follow her gut and report the matter to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation in Johannesburg to investigate further.
“A multidisciplinary operation was conducted by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation and the Tactical Operation Management Services in Sandton, where Ebor was arrested during a church service.”
While modern dating has found a place online, the Gauteng Provincial Head of the Hawks, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa, has cautioned those ready to fall in love to be vigilant as criminals can easily hide behind rose coloured glasses.
Also read:
From the ‘Tinder Swindler’ to Tinder in Cape Town here’s what I learned from Simon
Picture: Unsplash