The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime investigation has resulted in the arrest of Nomfusi Princess Fortune (33) on Thursday, 3 October on charges of fraud and money laundering related to a romance scam.
A case of fraud was registered at Norwood police station in June 2019. The victim had suffered a loss of over R2 000 000 00. The complainant met a man, later identified as Allen Graig, on Facebook, and they began an online relationship, communicating via WhatsApp. Once the suspect gained the complainant’s trust, he started requesting money for various reasons.
The complainant eventually realized that she had been scammed. She deposited the money into different accounts, one of which was a Capitec account belonging to Nomfusi Princess Fortune which received three transactions amounting to R70 000 00.
Fortune appeared before the Palm Ridge Court on Monday, 7 October, for bail application alongside her co-accused Zizipho Mqikela (32) who was also arrested on charges of fraud and money laundering related to the same romance scam.
Mqikela’s FNB account received R580,000.00 in seven transactions also from the same victim. Nomfusi Fortune was granted bail of R2000 00 while Zizipho Mqikela was granted bail of R3000 00 and their matter is postponed to 24 January 2025 for trial.
The Gauteng Acting Head Brigadier Phumeza Klaas has sounded a warning to the public.
“This incident serves as a stark warning to all South African citizens to remain vigilant against romance scams. We urge everyone to exercise caution when engaging in online relationships and to report any suspicious activities to the authorities,” She said.
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