A 42-year-old South African woman is expected to appear in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Ekurhuleni on Thursday, facing charges of fraud involving R2 million stolen from different women.
The women were scammed by the promise of love by several men allegedly from Uganda.
Mmakgomo Doris Ngcobo is known to her different victims only as Lebo, while others know her as Linky.
In all the victims’ cases, she is the woman referred to as a “personal banker”, “consultant” or “fixer” by the scammers. She allegedly handles banks issues where she personally drove the unsuspecting women to specific banks, to take out huge bank loans.
All the money was theb stolen by the scammers who allegedly worked with Ngcobo.
The different scammed women who spoke to IOL said Ngcobo appeared to be connected with the staff at the different banks – where she drove the unsuspecting women to take out cash loans. All the money was procedurally handed over to the scammers – leaving the women heavily indebted and blacklisted by the commercial banks.
Ngcobo was arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks, after she had been on the wanted list for a few years. She was cornered and arrested in connection with the romance scams where three women lost amounts of R650,000; R250,000; and R1 million in three separate cases.
IOL has also spoken to other victims, including a man who alleges that Lebo was the “fixer” who drove them in her car to the banks. These additional stories are not related to the three women who lost around R2 million on different instances.
Ngcobo has been on the radar of the Hawks’ specialised unit which hunts for scammers. The unit has registered several successes, arresting several alleged scammers who are appearing in different courts across South Africa.
IOL’s own investigations initially identified Ngcobo in 2021 as a central figure in the web of romance scams, when a Gauteng-based woman who lost the R650,000 claimed that a South African woman worked as the “fixer” between banks at Woodmead Centre in Sandton and her Ugandan boyfriend who turned out to be a scammer.
According to *Sbongile Dlamini (not her real name), Lebo handled the part where an unsuspecting woman is taken into a commercial bank, not knowing that she was being scammed.
In July, IOL published the story of Dlamini who contemplated suicide after she was scammed and lost the R650,000 which she “easily” got approved for cash loans from different commercial banks at Woodmead Centre in Joburg.
The scam happened weeks after Dlamini had hooked up with a Ugandan man, who introduced himself as Razak. The “loving” boyfriend did not waste time in getting a ring, requesting her hand in marriage, and inviting her to his lavish home at Sandton.
It was at the plush home that the unwitting Dlamini was introduced to the fake ancestors.
IOL has previously published stories on how unsuspecting victims are taken into dark “prayer rooms” where a voice of the so-called ancestors shocks them. This is all part of the well-organised scheme where a person hiding somewhere in the room appears to be the voice of the ancestors, stunning the already dazzled women.
“The room was covered in traditional cloths and had ornaments of wooden and metal sculptures, both biblical and traditional. I was made to visit the prayer room once every week, but the purported sister, only identified as Maria, would keep in contact with me every day via the phone,” Dlamini recounted.
“In all the praying sessions, they would switch off the lights and leave the burning candles on but this one time, during the prayer, they switched off the candles as well, leaving the room completely dark. Suddenly there were voices coming from the darkness. It sounded like a frail old grandmother and a cheerful grandfather.”
The “ancestors” then welcomed Dlamini into the family, promising her great riches if she married their son Razak.
Dlamini was shown a trunk loaded with new bank notes, which they said was R40 million. This money would be a present to her and Razak to start a family – but there was a catch.
The overjoyed and confused Dlamini was then instructed to bring her own investment of R1 million in cash, to mix with the money in the trunk.
Because she did not have much savings to her name, the “ancestors” instructed that Dlamini be taken to the banks, where she would get huge cash loans to prove her commitment to her new family.
Razak and his family then told Dlamini that they have their own person who handles their banking and finance issues. The perplexed Dlamini was then introduced to the swanky Ngcobo who only introduced herself at the time as Lebo.
Dlamini alleges that Lebo drove Dlamini to the Woodmead Centre where she led her into certain commercial banks – Capitec, Nedbank and African Bank. In the banks, Dlamini said Lebo pointed her to certain consultants who seemingly were waiting for Dlamini to arrive.
“It appeared as if the bank had been briefed beforehand before my arrival and the cash loans were approved without any hassle. It was strange how almost all staff at the banks seemed to know Lebo. We moved from bank to bank in the mall, and the same scenario took place. At Capitec, the bank’s official kept asking if I was being escorted by Lebo. It did not make sense at that time but the scam was happening right in the bank,” said Dlamini.
“What was also strange was that on the days of collecting the money from FNB at Cresta mall, the bank tellers did not hand the money to me. After the loans (from the other banks) were approved, I was instructed to transfer the money into my FNB account. These strange men escorted me into the bank (FNB) and the money was handed to them by the bank officials,” she said.
“Three women with cases being handled by the Hawks unit have unequivocally pointed at Lebo as the “Louis Vuitton” woman who personally drove them to banks, and led them into specific banks, pointing out specific consultants to be approached for the cash loans.“
“She portrayed herself as someone who is very rich and was always wearing expensive labels particularly Louis Vuitton. She was driving a BMW sedan. She played a central role in me getting the bank loans and handing over the money to the scammers. I had trusted her as a fellow South African woman,” Dlamini recounted.
IOL has been running the scammed series, where numerous South African women have now joined hands, speaking out against the rampant romance scams.
The women who are often breadwinners in their households, are left destitute, emotionally traumatised with some women reportedly committing suicide after being scammed.
Some of the defrauded women were members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and other public servants.
IOL