Gauteng woman who has been allegedly defrauding unsuspecting property buyers under the pretence of being a conveyancer has been arrested and is expected to appear in court soon.
The woman, whose name cannot be divulged because she has not yet appeared in court, was arrested by the Benoni police on Friday after several people opened fraud cases against her.
A source with knowledge of the situation said the woman was arrested. She faces three counts of fraud.
“She was arrested with her partner,” said the source, who did not want to be named because they are not authorised to talk to media.
Last year, Luka Khumalo from Wattville in Benoni, Ekurhuleni, accused the woman of refusing to refund him of approximately R300 000 after failing to assist him buy a house.
At the time, The Citizen contacted her and she conceded owing Khumalo money, but failed to say when she would refund him.
Over the weekend, a fourth victim, Noni Khumalo, (not related to the other victim) from Etwatwa, Ekurhuleni, claimed the same woman stole more than R100 000 after promising to assist in the house buying process.
Khumalo also opened a case at Benoni police station.
Yesterday, Khumalo said she was introduced to the woman in April last year by a property agent who was assisting her to buy a house in Daveyton.
“After they took me to see the house I wanted to buy, I was told that the house was valued at R170 000.
“And her service as a conveyancer was R10 000.
“I deposited R7 000 into her Capitec account and R100 000 into her business account and promised to settle the balance the following month.”
“After three days, the owner of the house telephoned, informing me that she was no longer selling the house.
“We got another house, but the yard was very small.
“I rejected it and demanded my money back from her, but she kept on promising to refund me, but to no avail.”
Khumalo said the woman stopped taking her calls, and eventually her phone was always off.
The Citizen has seen bank statements whereby the first payment of R7 000 was paid to a personal Capitec account, while the R100 000 was paid to a business account.
“These are the accounts that she gave me and she called and confirmed receiving the money.”
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‘The matter remains sub judice’
Khumalo’s lawyer Mabu Marweshe from Marweshe attorneys, said: “We confirm that Ms Khumalo has approached us for assistance regarding this matter.
“We cannot comment at present as the matter remains sub judice.”
Legal Practice Council spokesperson Kabelo Letebele urged people to verify first before paying money to a person posing as a lawyer.
“We don’t have such a name in our records,” said Letebele.
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Mavela Masando did not respond to questions about the matter.
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