Pretoria – A 38-year-old man, Pontho Emanuel Ramothuma has been sentenced to five years direct imprisonment after he scammed his girlfriend of almost R500 000, which he apparently needed to buy a tractor-loader-backhoe, more commonly referred to as a TLB machine.
Limpopo spokesperson for the Hawks, Capt Matimba Maluleke said the court established that Ramothuma never bought the TLB but spent the money on himself.
“It started as an innocuous romantic relationship until fake business ideas emerged between the couple. In September 2019, the accused, Pontho Emanuel Ramothuma requested his girlfriend to enter into a joint business venture in order to strengthen their relationship,” Maluleke explained.
“The accused requested her partner to assist in buying a TLB for their potential business. The victim deposited an amount of R470 000 into the account of the accused so that they can buy the TLB.”
After some time, the woman requested to see the TLB but Ramothuma only presented fake documents as proof of purchase.
“The victim became suspicious when she did not see the TLB and decided to report the matter to the Hawks' serious commercial crime investigation [unit]. Subsequently the accused was arrested,” said Maluleke.
“After conducting a comprehensive and thorough investigation, the Hawks found that the accused did not buy the TLB. Instead, he used all the money for himself.”
On Thursday, Ramothuma appeared before the Polokwane Specialised Commercial Crimes Court and he was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment.
In March, the man dubbed “South Africa’s Tinder Swindler”, Amon Namara, accused of scamming Sandton-based women he met on dating app Tinder, was granted R500 000 bail by the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
The woman who led to the charging and arrest of the Ugandan national reported that she lost R3m to him.
Magistrate Nishani Beharie granted Namara bail, and set it at a staggering R500 000.
Bail conditions that she set for Namara included that he should report to a police station near him daily, he should not leave Gauteng or South Africa and he should not make contact with witnesses.
The State had opposed Namara’s bail. Its grounds included that it had a strong prima facie case against him as he could interfere with witnesses and that he was in the country illegally.
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