Cape Town widow allegedly conned out of R14m in Christian dating site scam

When Cape Town widow Roslyn Gray, 73, met a charming Italian-born businessman on a Christian dating site, she thought she had found her lifelong companion. Instead, he stole R14m from her.

This week, Sikelelwa Nqunu and Chibuzor Silver appeared in the Muizenberg magistrate’s court in Cape Town. They are among seven suspects linked to an alleged syndicate. All are charged with fraud and money laundering. The other accused are Asanda Dwesini, Nomphelo Fetman, Brazil Hendricks, Shan Lewis and Lavina Oppel.

The case stems from a complaint laid in 2021 by Gray. According to court papers, she allegedly lost just over R14m between July 2017 and October 2022 after transferring money into several South African bank accounts allegedly controlled by members of the syndicate.

Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said Gray, a resident of Westlake, only realised she was being scammed after noticing that the accounts she had been instructed to pay into were all South African bank accounts, despite being told the money was needed overseas.

Court papers say Gray joined ChristianDating.com after a friend helped her create a profile. She soon began communicating with a man identifying himself as “Mr Ael Alzando”, who claimed to be an Italian-born businessman working in the construction industry.

The pair communicated daily using two South African cellphone numbers, which the Sunday Times has seen. Alzando allegedly sent photographs portraying himself as a white man and gradually gained Gray’s trust.

It is alleged that Alzando later claimed he had travelled to Luanda, Angola, where he encountered a series of crises. He told Gray that members of a local tribe had taken his laptop, passport and bank cards and that he could not access his finances. He claimed his belongings had been handed to a local municipality but could not be recovered.

He allegedly asked Gray to deposit money into a Standard Bank account belonging to Dwesini, claiming the funds were needed to pay an attorney because he was unable to transact with local banks in Angola.

Over the next several years, Alzando allegedly continued requesting money for a string of emergencies, repeatedly assuring Gray that she would be repaid once payment for his construction project was released. The money was allegedly deposited into accounts held by the seven accused at FNB, Standard Bank and Absa.

The first payment, according to court papers, was R50,000. Hundreds of further deposits followed.

Court papers state that none of the accused conducted legitimate businesses that would justify such large deposits and that the money was not used for any lawful business activities.

According to the charge sheet, the accused were allegedly part of a syndicate that created fake online dating profiles to target vulnerable people. The group allegedly groomed victims over extended periods, built trust and then persuaded them to send large sums of money for fabricated emergencies.

“The monies solicited from the victim were proceeds of unlawful activity arising from fraud perpetrated by the syndicate,” the charge sheet states.

Investigators allege the syndicate used an informal “money mule” network to receive and move the proceeds of the fraud. The accused allegedly withdrew cash or transferred funds between multiple bank accounts to conceal the origin of the money and avoid detection.

The case has been postponed to August 20 for a bail application.

Romance scams are a growing but under-reported form of fraud in South Africa, with criminals using sophisticated fake identities to build trust before exploiting victims financially, said Krinesha George Messif, a lecturer in social work and criminology at the University of Pretoria.

She said scammers typically groomed victims over weeks or months, creating emotional intimacy before inventing financial crises involving medical expenses, travel difficulties, legal fees or business setbacks.

“The financial requests often begin relatively small and escalate gradually. This can make the victim feel that each payment is reasonable, even when the total loss becomes substantial. It is important to understand that continuing to send money does not mean a victim is unintelligent. These crimes are designed to create emotional dependence and impair critical judgment.”

Ntabazalila said Fetman was granted R20,000 bail last week and ordered to report regularly to Lwandle police station.

He said the legal representatives for Nqunu and Silver had withdrawn from the matter, and the case was postponed to allow Legal Aid South Africa to come on record. Lewis and Oppel had previously been granted bail, while Hendricks and Dwesini abandoned their bail applications.