Two suspects, a man and a woman who are in their late forties, have been arrested after defrauding a 51-year-old Zimbabwean woman of her late husband’s provident fund earnings amounting to R166 000.
This was on 8 October but the incident occurred in April this year.
The suspects were on the run prior to their arrest.
According to Westonaria SAPS spokesperson Constable Thembi Masango, it is unclear how the woman met the suspects but they offered to give her accommodation for the night at their home in Wedela.
“Throughout the night, the suspects gathered that the woman had received her late husband’s provident fund payout.
“They also discovered that the woman was unable to read or write.
The two apparently hatched a plan to get the woman’s money.
According to Westonaria SAPS spokesperson, |Constable Thembi Masango, the suspects woke the woman up in the early hours of the morning and suggested that they go to a local bank to withdraw R100 000.
They said that this would help find her a suitable place to live.
The suspects accompanied the woman to a local bank where she made the R100 000 withdrawal.
Shortly after she received the funds, she transferred another R55000 into the account of one of the suspects.
The suspects apparently told the woman that this money was also needed to help secure a home for her.
According to Masango, the suspects took the woman home and demanded that she hands over the R100 000 and another R8 000.
They later fled with the cash and left the woman stranded.
“It took us months of hard work and thorough investigation to track down and catch these suspects,” says Masango.
“We are glad to have made the arrests and this should go to prove that cases are never neglected by the police.
“Despite the time it might take to solve them, people should rest assured that we are hard at work,” says Masango.
The suspects were charged with fraud and appeared at the Westonaria Magistrates Court on where their case was postponed.
