Byline: Refeloe Letsoisa

11 October 2023

A 50-year-old Ugandan foreign national, Christopher Masereka, also known as Moses Mawaza, was remanded in custody after his first appearance before Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, 10 October 2023 for allegedly scamming a 46-year-old former teacher and lover of her hard-earned pension money she accumulated over the years of her service.

Masereka-Mawaza was remanded in custody for a formal bail application postponed for Friday, 20 October 2023.

According to information at police disposal, the duo allegedly entered into a mutual relationship in March 2023.

Two months down the line, the suspect deceived his partner and told her that he was in the logistics business.

He further advised her to resign from work so that after cashing out her pension money, she could pump it into the business, which they would run as partners in return.

It sounded interesting and promising that the business would boom, and as a result, the former teacher fell into a trap and resigned in May 2023.

When her pension savings were paid into her account in August 2023, the lovebirds decided to withdraw the money (total figure withheld for investigation purposes) over three transactions in one day.

Information in our records revealed that the former teacher gave all her withdrawals to her partner. From that time on, the alleged swindler played hard to get.

The Ugandan national allegedly ignored the victim’s calls, relocated to another accommodation, and finally changed his contact numbers.

It became clear to the former teacher that she had been scammed; hence, she registered a case of theft under false pretense at Nelspruit police station.

An investigation was conducted, which led to the arrest of the suspect on Sunday, 08 October 2023. The suspect was charged with theft under false pretense and contravention of the Immigration Act.

The Department of Home Affairs will be roped into the investigation to ascertain the legality of the alleged swindler in South Africa. Police cannot rule out the possibility of adding other charges, as similar incidents have been reported in the past in the province.

Police therefore urge other community members who might have been victimized in a similar way to come forward and assist police in their investigation.