Johannesburg:
A 53-year-old Indian-origin South African disbarred lawyer who scammed 17 {couples} throughout the nation by taking cash from them for a similar venue on the identical day has been arrested after she was tracked down by a personal safety firm.
But guarantees by her lawyer and household to repay all of the rip-off victims have led to her presumably escaping serving jail time for fraud.
Although the scammer, arrested on Tuesday, was not initially named as a result of she had not appeared in court docket but, safety firm Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) mentioned on its Facebook web page that the lady is Prelyn Mohanlall, whose lawyer Chris Gounden contacted them with the provide to make preparations to pay again all victims that have been scammed and are in possession of proof of funds.
Mohanlall allegedly satisfied lovestruck {couples} planning their weddings to pay massive sums upfront for a venue with out having any hyperlink to the place.
When the {couples} arrived on the venue, they’d discover it abandoned, with no water or electrical energy, ruining their particular marriage ceremony days.
One of the {couples}, who most popular to stay nameless, contracted RUSA in December final yr to trace down Mohanlall. The firm subsequently discovered by means of social media a complete of 17 {couples} who had been scammed on this means.
“Complainants have been from a number of provinces in South Africa. A detective from SAPS Boksburg North (in Gauteng province) then contacted RUSA and knowledgeable them that the identical suspect was needed for 2 instances of fraud opened in Gauteng in 2024. The girl had defrauded a automobile dealership of R200 000 and a pair for R26 000,” mentioned Head of RUSA, Prem Balram. RUSA mentioned after they tracked the lady down, Mohanlall knowledgeable officers that she was a prison lawyer that had been barred by the Law Society after she stole funds from a consumer’s Trust Fund account.
“It was later established that the suspect was convicted for fraud and has a prison document and a historical past of scams spanning over 20 years,” Balram mentioned.
The weekly Post reported that the lady has denied that she was operating a rip-off and mentioned her enterprise had “hit a tough patch” and she or he was struggling to pay again those that cancelled their weddings.
She claimed she owed 9 {couples} a complete of about R60 000 and was planning on paying again each cent.
“It’s not a rip-off and I’m not a scammer. My firm went by means of a lot. Late final yr, I had 9 cancellations and I despatched out letters to every of the {couples} to inform them that they’d get a full refund. But I couldn’t repay them timeously as a result of my companions pulled out in October,” she advised the weekly.
A person who was scammed shared how he and his fiancée needed to endure the embarrassment of cancelling their marriage ceremony and beginning to save from scratch to plan it once more for a number of months later this yr.
“Based on what she ‘stole’ from us, it drastically impacted our planning and what we hoped to be our dream day has now grow to be an occasion the place we now have to accept what we are able to afford,” the person, who didn’t need to be recognized, mentioned.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)