Forfeiture order granted against ‘Tinder swindlers’

A FORFEITURE order was obtained to seize R1.3 million in cash as well as assets that were bought with the proceeds of a fraudulent online dating site after two women based in Kimberley and Cape Town were scammed out of their life savings.

The accused, Pius Emokpe and his wife Piliswa Emokpe, allegedly unduly enriched themselves with R6.2 million that was paid to them by the two women.

Pius Emokpe, who is in custody, has also been linked to 419 scams relating to fraudulent internet dating scams in the Western Cape.

His co-accused, Lulama Dilimini, 33, Shafwaan Fakier, 47, Nomcebo Agrineth Sibisi, and Juany Michaels, 24, were arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in Cape Town on January 25.

They appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court for bail information yesterday, where they are facing charges of fraud and money laundering.

Hawks provincial spokesperson Captain Tebogo Thebe said that Pius Emokpe would make a formal bail application on February 9.

He added that Emokpe’s co-accused were granted bail yesterday.

“Juany Michaels was granted bail of R25 000 and Shafwaan Fakier was released on R100 000 bail. Lulama Dilimini and Nomceba Agrineth Sibisi were granted bail of R5 000 each.”

The vehicles seized by the Asset Forfeiture Unit include a 2007 white Hyundai Accent, a white 2011 Hyundai Atos Prime, a silver 2014 Renault Duster and a bronze 2019 model Toyota Rush.

Two Strand properties in the Western Cape that are valued at R1.5 million and R600 000 were purchased for cash in 2020 and 2022 and registered in the names of the Emokpe couple.

According to the State, a 64-year-old widow from Kimberley received an invitation on an online dating site known as “Singles 50” from a suitor going by the name of Richard Moore.

‘Moore’ introduced himself as an Italian man who was born in

Milan and relocated to South Africa when he was 11 years old.

He informed the widow that his wife had died of cancer and that he was a marine biologist/engineer who was working in Saldanha.

They communicated via e-mail and telephone, although he was not able to video call due to “security reasons”.

Moore requested financial assistance from the complainant as he was ostensibly ill and required medication to be delivered to him by helicopter as he was “stuck on an island”.

After receiving R5 000 from her, he asked for more money, amounting to R4.8 million, for the helicopter delivery and a fire that had “destroyed everything”.

The funds were paid into different bank accounts between August 2021 and February 2022.

After informing Moore that she had no more money in 2022 and requesting him to refund her, the widow never heard from him again.

During the investigation, it was discovered that another woman from Cape Town had also met a man on the same dating site who went by the name of Paul Donner.

He claimed that he was employed by an international company, working at sea as a marine engineer in Saldanha.

The second complainant was employed as a director at Sentinel International Advisory Services in Cape Town.

She was also given a similar background explanation, where ‘Donner’ claimed to be of Italian descent while his mother was South African.

He also told the woman that he was a widower who lost his wife to cancer.

The complainant fell in love with Donner, who made promises of marriage.

He explained that he was living on a ship along with his crew off the coast of Saldanha Bay and needed a R5 000 loan to purchase supplies for his crew that would be delivered by helicopter from the mainland.

Although the complainant was at first reluctant to send the money as she was suspicious as to why a successful person needed a loan, she conceded to his request when he claimed he had difficulty accessing his online bank account and that his crew were running out of food.

She also transferred R3 500 to a domestic worker employed by Donner known as Veronica Emokpe.

After informing him that she was unable to provide further financial assistance for equipment that had apparently been damaged on board of his exploration rig and/ or storeroom, during July 2021, he became “verbally irate”, threatening that his “reputation and their future were on the line”.

He also refused to sign an acknowledgement of debt.

The complainant conducted a background check, where she was unable to find an identity number or any fixed assets linked to his name, but reasoned that it was because of his Italian background.

She deposited a total of R1.3 million into eight different bank accounts between July and November 2021.

In order to generate the money, she redeemed funds from her unit trust investments, took out a personal loan and increased her overdraft on her cheque and credit accounts.

The last time she heard from Donner was in February 2022 when he informed her that his sister had purchased plane tickets so that he could fly to Boston after his daughter was apparently killed in an accident.

She opened criminal charges when she was not able to reach him again.

The police traced Emokpe in May 2022 and conducted a search and seizure operation at a house in Richard Brewery Road in Cape Town.

He was unable to produce the documents to provide proof of purchase of a vehicle that was parked on the premises.

Emokpe, a Nigerian national, denied any knowledge of a black suitcase containing wads of cash amounting to R1.3 million and did not know where the key was to unlock the padlock.