A FALSE prophet is on the run after allegedly swindling a former police officer of her retirement money.
The Tshwane woman received a payout of more than R1-million when she left the SAPS in March after 24 years' service.
The woman, who declined to be named, said she met the man, who called himself "Mohamed", at a Pretoria North bank where she had gone to confirm that the money had indeed been paid into her account.
She fell for the false prophet's charms after he promised to perform a miracle to increase the money to R29-million.
Mohamed told her he was a prophet and that the ancestors wanted to give her more money.
"He said he knew that I was a millionaire and the exact amount in my account. I was not thinking, I listened to everything he said," the former policewoman said.
The woman and her husband followed Mohamed to his office - a dark room with walls covered with black cloths and a huge trunk full of money in the middle.
"The trunk was half the size of a bathtub and deep. He let us touch the money, and it was real. The man said it was our money. He said we should not tell anyone about it," the woman said.
The man prayed for them and burnt some substances. He instructed the couple to withdraw R1-million and bring it to him. They withdrew the money in batches of R200000 over five days and handed it to the man on the fifth day.
"He took the money out of the bags and put it in a briefcase. He then tied a red cloth around it.
"He gave me the briefcase, switched off the light and the room became pitch dark. He burned muthi and prayed," she said.
The false prophet told them to go home with the briefcase. He said he would bring the R29-million later in the evening. "He drove behind us in a big beautiful car to see where we lived. He said we should not open the briefcase for three days. The briefcase was now heavy and my husband carried it into the house."
They waited for the man for two days but he never arrived.
"We called him a thousand times but he kept saying he would come. My husband got irritated and opened the briefcase. There were bricks and papers inside. We were shocked, I could not believe my eyes. My husband went to his office but he was gone," the woman said.
The stunned couple now had to face the reality of being R1-million poorer. They had to return the car they had just bought and withdraw the offer they had made on a bigger suburban house.
She has reported the incident to the police but no arrests have yet been made. Police spokesman Warrant Officer Matthews Nkoadi said they were looking for the suspect.
ratsatsip@sowetan.co.za
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
Swindled out of R1m - 'Prophet' defrauds ex-cop of retirement payout
A FALSE prophet is on the run after allegedly swindling a former police officer of her retirement money.
The Tshwane woman received a payout of more than R1-million when she left the SAPS in March after 24 years' service.
The woman, who declined to be named, said she met the man, who called himself "Mohamed", at a Pretoria North bank where she had gone to confirm that the money had indeed been paid into her account.
She fell for the false prophet's charms after he promised to perform a miracle to increase the money to R29-million.
Mohamed told her he was a prophet and that the ancestors wanted to give her more money.
"He said he knew that I was a millionaire and the exact amount in my account. I was not thinking, I listened to everything he said," the former policewoman said.
The woman and her husband followed Mohamed to his office - a dark room with walls covered with black cloths and a huge trunk full of money in the middle.
"The trunk was half the size of a bathtub and deep. He let us touch the money, and it was real. The man said it was our money. He said we should not tell anyone about it," the woman said.
The man prayed for them and burnt some substances. He instructed the couple to withdraw R1-million and bring it to him. They withdrew the money in batches of R200000 over five days and handed it to the man on the fifth day.
"He took the money out of the bags and put it in a briefcase. He then tied a red cloth around it.
"He gave me the briefcase, switched off the light and the room became pitch dark. He burned muthi and prayed," she said.
The false prophet told them to go home with the briefcase. He said he would bring the R29-million later in the evening. "He drove behind us in a big beautiful car to see where we lived. He said we should not open the briefcase for three days. The briefcase was now heavy and my husband carried it into the house."
They waited for the man for two days but he never arrived.
"We called him a thousand times but he kept saying he would come. My husband got irritated and opened the briefcase. There were bricks and papers inside. We were shocked, I could not believe my eyes. My husband went to his office but he was gone," the woman said.
The stunned couple now had to face the reality of being R1-million poorer. They had to return the car they had just bought and withdraw the offer they had made on a bigger suburban house.
She has reported the incident to the police but no arrests have yet been made. Police spokesman Warrant Officer Matthews Nkoadi said they were looking for the suspect.
ratsatsip@sowetan.co.za
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays