An alleged fraudster has been brought to book after attempting to defraud staff members of the Bryanston Country Club in a fake kidnapping scenario. After befriending members of the club, the man sent messages to various people claiming that he had been kidnapped and his kidnappers were demanding ransom money.
According to eBlockwatch’s Andre Snyman, the man who was captured a few days ago was an ex-prisoner who said he wished to better his life by helping others in computer training the club. He also said that the man has been known to hold multiple aliases and has allegedly attempted to defraud several people across the Randburg and Sandton areas.
Snyman said, “When he applied for the position at Bryanston Country Club, he blew the interviewers away with his knowledge of IT and his presentation skills, and they thought we were on to a real livewire.” The club had started an educational programme for their underprivileged staff to learn more about computer technology and other skills needed to pass their matric. Little did the club staff know that the man was an alleged con artist. The man grew closer to those that helped at the facility, lending money from them to pay for living expenses and even went to the extent of asking them to help pay for his accommodation in the Randburg CBD.
A representative of the Bryanston Country Club, who does not wish to be named due to fears of intimidation from the suspect said, “We know that ‘charity begins with me’, so we are always trying our best to give back to our community in any way that we can. We also have our employees and 94 caddies who benefit from this charity trust. This is also a reason why we built our IT centre to help our underprivileged staff who do not have access to computer technology at home to have access to the internet and learn how to use computers.”
Over the years, the charity trust has given away almost R3 Million to various charities and causes. The club advertised a position of IT education coordinator to help with the initiative, and the suspect applied for the position and was successful. The man claimed that he was from an underprivileged background and had spent some time in prison.
She continued, “After a while, he informed a few of us that a loan shark was after him and they were threatening his life, so he asked if he could borrow some money, which we refused to do individually, but we thought we could help him through our charity trust. “I also personally loaned him R3 500 in cash to help pay for the deposit on a new apartment.” After lending him the money, the man disappeared from contact for three days.
She continued, “I received a strange message on WhatsApp from a private number saying that ‘if I am looking for him, he owes us money and we have taken him’. The message also asked that I pay R2 500 by 9am, or he will never be seen again.” Worried, she then contacted others from the club to inform them of the situation. “I then found out that the message had been sent to 16 people across the country who all had a connection to him at some point. I also found out that he had asked others for advances on his salary to pay supposed loan sharks,” she said.
In the space of two days, the man was able to gather over R11 500 in cash from club staff. Once everyone had realised what had happened, charges of fraud and intimidation were laid against the man at the Sandton Police Station. She said, “A strange thing happened when I was at the station. A woman that I had never met before overheard my conversation with the officer and said that she was there to lay a charge against him for the same intimidating message. It was then that I realised that this problem was bigger than we thought.”
Before starting his position at the club, the man allegedly used to own a voucher-based car washing businesses, allowing him to gain personal details such as your address and the car that you drive. He then contacted people on his database with the extortionate message. Working on information provided to the police of the suspect and his whereabouts, the police were able to track the suspect down and arrest him.
She added, “This man is a highly intelligent con artist and I can only imagine how many people he has ripped off in the past.”The woman said that after his arrest, the suspect is expected to appear in court to face charges of 16 counts of fraud, as well as a counter with his own bail application.
A spokesperson for the Sandton Police Captain Granville Meyer confirmed that the case had been opened at the station, but had been transferred to the Randburg Police Station for further investigation. Randburg Police was not able to comment at the time of publication.
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