Fake Tanzanian lover locked up for 25 years after scamming retired teachers of R2.5m

A Tanzanian dating scammer who swindled more than R2.5 million from two retired teachers after proposing love to them has been sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.

This week, the King Williams Town Regional Court sentenced 30-year-old Tanzanian national Lucious Charles Saba, who was living in the country illegally, to 25 years imprisonment for persuading retired teachers to collect their pension checks and invest in a fictitious company.

Saba approached the two women, then aged 58 and 59, respectively, and proposed love to them on different occasions in 2017.

According to Luxolo Tyali, a regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the women had intimate interactions with him without each other’s knowledge.

R1.6 million and R900 000 invested in fictitious company

“He managed to convince them to withdraw all their pension benefits and give them to him to invest. They both did so, and one withdrew R1.6 million and the other R900 000,” Tyali said.

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The money was deposited into the bank account of YNM Investments, a Durban-based company run by Saba’s acquaintances, countrymen, and other foreign nationals from other countries.

The two women attempted to get in touch with Saba after growing suspicious of their “investments” but he had disappeared.

They reported the matter to the police, but by the time the investigation started, the YNM Investments account had been emptied.

Saba was subsequently arrested in Durban, and the two women identified him in an identity parade, and the state opposed bail, mainly because the Department of Home Affairs had no records of him being in the country.

Tyali added that despite the NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit’s (AFU) involvement, they only managed to confiscate a Jaguar car worth R200 000.

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Saba pleaded not guilty

During his trial, Saba pleaded not guilty and claimed that the “elderly” women were mistaking him for somebody else.

“Regional Court prosecutor Cyril Mahamba presented evidence that corroborated the two victims, and the court convicted him. Prosecutor Mahamba argued that a lengthy jail term was the most appropriate, as Saba was not remorseful and the two women [he defrauded] would not be able to recover their life savings, and the court agreed,” Tyali said.

Barry Madolo, the director of public prosecutions for the Eastern Cape, said the deterrent sentence serves as a warning to future criminals who prey on the weak and rob them of their well-earned pensions.

Single and widowed women warned of fraudsters

In November last year, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) warned single and widowed women about a rapid increase in dating scams.

The Hawks advised women to be careful of these scammers who would come into their lives in the name of love.

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Dating scammers target the following categories of single women:

• Women with stable jobs (scammers convince them to resign)
• Women who are recently divorced and have acquired some assets (they convince them to register assets under their names or sell them)
• Women who are in business (scammers come up with fake business proposals that need funding)
• Women who have inherited wealth
• Women who are about to retire
• Women who are widows.