THE VICTIM of a Musgrave con artist, who was duped for months, managed to get the operation busted by Berea police on Thursday morning in the hope of recovering her money.
The 55-year-old woman who is known to Berea Mail explained how she had been duped by the foreign doctor for months after separating from her husband. “I met him early in February this year and knew him only as Dr Dean. I read an article in a local Stanger paper and was desperate.
“I needed to bring my husband back home and called him and he said he could help me with my problem,” the woman said while Berea police swept through evidence in the “doctor’s” Musgrave Road rooms.
Dr Dean told the woman he was able to help her and asked her to bring R150 when she arrived. The desperate woman recalled taking a taxi into Durban CBD the first time she was to meet the “doctor”. “He said I should bring the money with two litres of milk and a white cloth. When I got to town, his driver fetched me and took me to Musgrave. I walked into the reception area and he called me into the “prayer room.” It was in complete darkness with only a candle burning. He was wearing a long green gown and a green mosque hat. When I went in he asked me to put the money in the tray,” she explained.
Two days after their meeting, ‘Dr Dean’ asked the mother of three for R1200 and continued to see her every other week, each time asking for more money until the woman’s funds dried up. “I remember going to him on one occasion and a mirror broke on its own while I was there. He told me my father-in-law had cast a spell over me and the spell was now broken and my husband would come back to me.”
Despite her dire financial siutation, the woman’s desperation to reunite with her estranged husband and put her family back together got the better of her. “He would ask me to come over for more prayer and asked for different amounts of money over the past six months. Last month he wanted R2400. He said he needed that amount because there was an Indian man who would give him some medicine that would definitely bring my husband back,” she said.
When the woman told the doctor she had no more money he asked her to take a loan and also suggested she give him her car. “I eventually went to court and got a letter of demand for him to pay back the R3500. I approached Berea police to assist me in giving him the court order,” she said.
However, when the woman visited the “doctor” accompanied by police on Thursday morning under the pretense of paying him the additional R2400, the “doctor” fled out a second door when he saw the police. “I am desperate and come from a poor family, I need that money and don’t know how I got into to this situation. I feel people must catch a wake up and not trust these foreign doctors that promise you the world but only want your money and prey on people’s hard times. This man is a fraud, he had fake money and bank statements around his office,” she added.
Captain TD Gumede, communications officer at Berea SAPS appealed to the public to be aware of con artists posing as traditional or faith healers.
“They create an impression to unsuspecting victims that they will do miracles for the victims. For example, getting unsuspecting victims to pay them R1000 with promises of the money multiplying to R10 000. There is no such thing, if you pay money to a traditional and faith healer you will never get your money back. They are just con artists who intend to extract money from unsuspecting victims and we are asking the public to be vigilant and aware, he advised.
The “doctor” contacted the woman in the presence of Berea Mail, promising to pay her her money this weekend..
