Victims tell how they got swindled

A Free state teacher has told of how she was swindled of R400,000 by a notorious scammer who had been  flagged for operating an illegal scheme promising huge returns for investments.

The 57-year-old deputy principal, who asked not to be named, is one of four women who allegedly fell prey to Simphiwe Manana's alleged illegal dealings. However, it is believed that over 18 more victims have since been identified.

In May, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) warned the public about Manana's illegal activities when conducting financial services business with him or his company – Pol Empire.

Yesterday, Manana appeared in the Pretoria magistrate's court charged with fraud relating to the case of the deputy principal following his arrest on Friday.

Two weeks ago, Manana's company topped the list of 40 untraceable companies the National Consumer Commission (NCC) warmed the public against doing business with.

The deputy principal said between July 2023 and April this year, she gave Manana over R400,000.

Out of that money, R200,000 was from her savings while the other R200,000 was a loan she took with a bank, she said.

"I never suspected anything until he disappeared and ignored my calls, then I realised I am dealing with a scammer. I went to the internet and googled him and I saw that the reviews were bad.

"I didn't know what to do or where to start and later on decided to open a case. I try to be strong but it is affecting me ... at the beginning I thought I was going to lose my mind. I just wanted to get something for my children after realising that I am about to retire in a few years, so I just wanted to leave something for them if it happened that I die," she said.

The teacher said she started speaking to Manana in July last year.

"I had shares at the JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) and he pretended to be an agent from JSE and said he wanted to assist me with trading under the Pol Empire," the woman said.

"He knew everything about me – my full name, address and how my account was doing on JSE. I was not even interested in the account. I bought shares and sold them and then at some point I stopped trading. He knew I had stopped trading," the woman said.

"I was supposed to get monthly repayments... and later on he even indicated that he was going to trade for me since I left the account. I won't have to do anything, I just have to get the repayments at the end of each month, but I never got anything."

Another woman, a nurse from Gauteng who also asked not to be named, said she lost R99,000 in a month.

The woman said Manana also had information about her, that she had traded at JSE before and stopped in 2018.

"He said he helps people to benefit from JSE and told me that he had assisted famous and high-ranking people. So I was convinced," said the 49-year-old nurse.

She took out a loan the same month and Manana allegedly kept asking her to pay thousands of rand until she lost close to R100,000. .

According to a source close to the investigations, in 2013, the first case opened against Manana over scam allegations was opened.

 "Several warrants of arrest were issued against him but they were not executed because he was on the run. The warrant that was successfully executed is the recent case where he convinced a 57-year-old to invest more than R400,000," said the source.

Another victim from Vaal said after being scammed of R18,000 allegedly by Manana, she tried to open a case and police told her that Manana was wanted for fraud.

"He is so clean, he drivers the latest BMW,” said the woman.

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