A 53-year-old woman has been arrested by Members of Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) this morning (Tuesday, January 7, 2025), for defrauding seventeen couples in a wedding venue scam.
The woman from Shallcross, KwaZulu-Natal, allegedly collected payments via electronic funds transfer from couples for a wedding venue in Botha’s Hill, KZN. The venue was booked for multiple couples on the same day, despite the suspect not owning it. On their wedding day, families arrived to find the venue double-booked, without electricity or water, and in a state of disrepair. The suspect reportedly demanded payments before allowing the venue to be viewed.
In December 2024, a couple from Ethekwini, KZN, approached RUSA after being scammed out of R26,000. When details of the scam were circulated, RUSA’s Operations Centre received calls from 17 other complainants across several provinces, all involving the same suspect.
A detective from SAPS Boksburg North contacted RUSA, revealing that the suspect was also wanted for two fraud cases in Gauteng from 2024. These included defrauding a car dealership of R200,000 and another couple for R26,000. Case numbers were provided by the detective.
RUSA officers managed to lure the suspect into a meeting and, after a brief interview, arrested her. She claimed to be a former criminal attorney, barred by the Law Society after embezzling from a client’s trust fund. Further investigations revealed that the suspect had a criminal record and a history of scams spanning over two decades.
Detectives from SAPS Boksburg North are expected to travel to KwaZulu-Natal to transport the suspect back to Gauteng for further investigation.
Source: Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA).
