"I have been looking for you, and you thought I would never find you. I want my money."
This what a Free State woman said as she confronted and apprehended a man she accused of defrauding her R800,000 of her pension money. The dramatic scene happened in the Pretoria magistrates court as Thabo Chele,60, stepped off the dock. Thabo was appearing for another fraud case involving his alleged son Kingsley Chele who are both accused of scamming their victims of more than R1.2m.
Chele, and three home affairs officials, who are all facing charges of fraud and corruption. The officials are said to have provided Chele, who is said to be a fake doctor, a fraudulent ID.
The woman grabbed Thabo by his arm and marched out of the courtroom with police in tow who later arrested him for allegedly scamming the former teacher. She had been looking for Thabo since April last year and she travelled 150kms from Daneysville to Pretoria after learning that he would be appearing in court.
She had been looking for Thabo and another accomplice whom she had last seen in April when they lured her into investing her pension money scheme promising her a R5m return. She said she saw a picture of Thabo in Sowetan in December after his initial arrest. She then called the investigator Col Masoding Simon Motolla whose contact details appeared in the article.
"As I was sitting in court I saw him [Thabo] coming in and getting into the witness box and by that time Motolla was not yet inside the court as he was stuck in traffic. A few minutes later I saw him walking in. When the case was postponed I saw Thabo getting out of the dock and I grabbed him by my left hand and pulled him outside the court and that's when I started making a noise that he defrauded me and I asked him for my money back. He just kept quiet. Police came and arrested him," said the woman.
The state alleges that Chele and Thabo It's alleged that Chele targeted medical workers and convinced them to invest in his non-existent pharmacy business before allegedly disappearing with their money.
The woman is believed to be the latest victim after she was scammed of R800,000 of her pension money.
Shesaid she was introduced by someone she knew as Moosa to Thabo who posed as a herbalist. The two allegedly convinced her to invest in the business that he was running with Chele.
"They knew I was about to retire but they convinced me to take an early retirement and cash out my pension and give it to them and that my investment will grow into R5m."
After withdrawing the money, Thabo and Moosa called the woman to bring her money to an ancestral ceremony in Vereeniging where Thabo would perform rituals to increase her investment to R5m.
She alleged that the two men disappeared with her money after the ceremony.
Police spokesperson Col Mavela Masondo confirmed that a new case of fraud was opened against Thabo Chele on Thursday.
SowetanLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.