Exclusive Exposé: Sean Westcott, Saviour or Skelm?
Desperately poor but naively hopeful, mostly elderly people make their way to Vryheid from all over NKZN, and even more distant parts of the country, in search of easy money.
UPDATE: Sean Westcott granted bail on condition that Tovasize shuts down
The queues never seem to abate at Tovasize (previously operating as Donafin).
Every day, scores of desperately poor but naively hopeful, mostly elderly people make their way to Vryheid from all over Northern KwaZulu-Natal, and even more distant parts of the country, in search of easy money.
All of them leave with the certainty that their financial status is about to improve dramatically over the next six-months.
They are given to believe that there are hundreds of thousands of rands in ‘surplus funds’ and ‘unclaimed benefits’ in their name, and it’s just a matter of time before that money will be in their bank accounts.
Where the money is coming from, is always very vague. Some of the ‘beneficiaries’ worked as domestic helpers and gardeners and were never even registered for a pension fund.
Sean Westcott, the owner of the business, charges an ‘admin fee’ of R1 500 to trace the ‘surplus funds’ and ‘unclaimed benefits’… A service that is offered free of charge by the Labour Department and the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA).
On June 6, Mr Westcott was warned by Hawks commander, Col S Msibi, to cease all business activities until fraud charges brought by the Department of Labour were fully investigated. He has defied the officer’s instruction and continued operating, saying he is, “providing a service to the people and only trying to help.”
An investigation into whether his business operation is perfectly acceptable, shamefully unethical, or downright criminal revealed the following (Click on the links below to read more):
Exclusive Exposé: ‘Businessmen’ make millions peddling empty promises and false hope
Exclusive Exposé (VIDEO): How to check for unclaimed benefits online for free
Exclusive Exposé: Experts agree something foul is afoot with Donafin / Tovasize
