‘Sandton Tinder swindler’ granted R500k bail

The Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court has reportedly granted Ugandan national Amon Amara, popularly known as Sandton Tinder swindler, R500k bail.

The man has been accused of defrauding a woman of R3 million after allegedly coercing her to invest in his business, reports News24.

“After obtaining the money from her friends, the victim electronically transferred R1.3 million into Namara’s FNB account. She later withdrew R1.7 million in portions and handed it over to the applicant,” prosecutor Goitsemang Gorewang was quoted as saying.

Namara allegedly met the woman, and others, on Tinder, and asked them to borrow him money, which he never returned.

He is expected back in court next month.

Namara is facing charges of money laundering, fraud and theft after allegedly defrauding at least three women of their money on the dating app, Tinder.

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Speaking to Newzroom Afrika on Friday, Gauteng police spokesperson Lt-Col Robert Netshiunda said the police found out about Namara after women came forward with allegations that they had been scammed.

According to Netshiunda, more victims have come forward with the same allegations.

“The amount could go up as more women come forward,” said Netshiunda at the time.

“We are aware he has been pretending to be someone else and luring women into believing that he is the person. He was targetting women in Sandton and that’s where he was arrested, maybe when we investigate further we will find that he even went beyond Gauteng.

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“Victims are very devastated because if you give someone money believing that you’re putting it to good use and find that you’ve scammed, you become very devastated because if you take a loan for a good cause and find that its a scam, you become devastated,” said Netshiunda.