Walterman Beling’s elaborate scam defrauded hundreds, moving millions through businesses, casinos, and fake investments over years.
One of South Africa’s largest Ponzi and advance fee scams has seen victims lose millions.
An ongoing investigation discovered that a group of con men reinvented themselves, opened shops to launder cash and shuffled bank accounts around to move cash.
All this because they managed to persuade people that their money, savings in effect, was about to unlock life-changing returns. All they had to do was invest. It’s classic Ponzi.
Beling’s Ponzi scheme stole millions from trusting South Africans
The broader scheme is estimated to have attracted between R50 million and R500 million from gullible investors over its lifespan, affecting hundreds of victims.
Multiple charges have been laid and the Hawks are presently investigating allegations of fraud and money laundering.
Alleged kingpin Walterman Beling, also known as Gert Moolman and later Gert de Kock, allegedly netted and gambled away millions of rands that he skimmed from people.
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In Mossel Bay, where he was based, Beling presented himself as a businessman, opening outlets such as Protein Palace and Vetkoek, Biltong & Braai.
These were all apparent fronts to launder the cash he made from an advance fee fraud scam that he is accused of masterminding.
Beling sold investors the promise of huge returns as their money would fund some or other court case against the state, one apparently worth a trillion rand.
Case was pure fiction
In return, they were promised enormous payouts once the legal action succeeded. The case was pure fiction.
Beling’s modus operandi suggested that he controlled a network of associates who managed groups of investors in the Ponzi. It was a layer cake of sorts.
Messages were sent out weekly to the different structures claiming that funds were urgently needed to cover growing legal fees.
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Each group was expected to contribute, often paying directly into bank accounts belonging to Beling’s varied structures.
From there, the money allegedly moved to his partner, a woman, who then withdrew cash amounts.
The money was then pushed through small businesses or gambled at casinos to launder it.
Not Beling’s first rodeo
As much as R300 000 was raised in a single week and this pattern was repeated for years. Larger sums flowing in from new recruits who joined the scheme further bumped up the cash flow.
It was not Beling’s first rodeo.
He has been wanted since 2007 on fraud charges in Krugersdorp but went undercover in the East Rand for a decade, reinventing himself, using various aliases and later establishing a new base in Mossel Bay.
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Chad Thomas of IRS Forensic Investigations said he used intimidation as part of his arsenal, threatening people who questioned his activities and recruiting locals to front the businesses or open bank accounts in their names. All for his use.
Casino staff were allegedly approached to assist in laundering funds, while Beling’s staffer Richard Meintjies confirmed in writing that he had also allowed his bank accounts to be used by Beling.
“I was not aware of the situation nor that my banking details were apparently supplied to Beling’s ‘investors’,” he said.
No business relationship between Beling and Meintjies
Meintjies said that there is no business relationship between Beling and him.
“I am full-time employed by Mr Beling, currently in a live-in position with him and his wife. I still do not have any insight or input into the ‘advance fee’ investigation, as I am not involved in any of Mr Beling’s dealings.”
Thomas said that the case illustrated how old criminal tricks like Ponzis never go out of fashion, only the names and the faces change.
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He said Belling’s scheme fits a pattern that investigators now call affinity scams. “We see schemers targeting people from their own communities that trust them,” Thomas said.
A scheme called QSG Consult allegedly defrauded over 800 investors from the broader Christian community of R380 million in a fake Dubai biodiesel scheme before its directors fled to Dubai in 2018.
Accountant Michael Ash fled to Israel after allegedly fleecing investors from the Jewish community of R60 million in an investment scheme. Africrypt, a crypto currency platform run by two brothers, allegedly targeted the Muslim community. It collapsed earlier this year.
‘Tip of the iceberg’
A and A Dealings sold dreams of luxury cars and car dealer investments while banks and victims allegedly lost millions. Melrose Property Homes allegedly targeted black women in a property scheme in 2015 and conman Mathew Dunn allegedly targeted family and friends with an exclusive but return-elusive investment scheme.
“These are the tip of the iceberg,” said Thomas. “People prefer to invest with someone they know or with a similar background. When they lose, it cuts deeper than just money. It is the loss of trust.”
SA has a long history of largescale scams. Kubus, Krion, Tannenbaum, Mirror Trading International, Global Electio, Praesidium and Imagina, all promised outsized returns before collapsing.
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