Bulawayo Couple Arrested for Job Scam
Bulawayo Police Spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube
A Bulawayo couple has been arrested on money fraud charges amounting to more than US$34800 following complaints from at least eight people from around Bulawayo.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said that Gwendoline Ndlovu (35) and Melusi Ndlovu (36), husband and wife from Sunhill, Bulawayo, posed as agents of an undisclosed company that claimed to assist people in securing jobs, work permits, and processing all travel documents required to work in Canada, United Kingdom, and Ireland.
Community Policing
“They were approached by eight complainants around Bulawayo on different dates and they were told to pay $4000 each in order to get the services,” said Inspector Ncube, “The complainants got interested and paid fractions of the total amount charged, and payment plans were made since they could not raise the full amounts.”
Failed to Deliver Services
Inspector Ncube added that after soliciting fractions of the total amount charged, the accused conducted interviews via WhatsApp video and audio calls and informed the victims that they had passed. The accused gave the victims a timeline of two to three weeks from the date of the interview for their documents to be processed. However, the accused failed to deliver their promised services, and the victims became frustrated as the promised time elapsed.
The situation turned ugly when the accused started to give different excuses to avoid the demands of the victims, forcing them to vacate their known office without a notice.
Leading to the Arrest
Police were alerted when some of the victims noticed that the accused were transporting their goods from the vacated office on May 3rd, 2023, leading to the arrest of Melusi. Gwendoline was arrested shortly thereafter at Bulawayo Central Hospital.
At least 12 more similar cases have been reported since their arrest. The total amount defrauded is US$34,801, and nothing has been recovered so far.
In light of the incident, Inspector Ncube urges the public to be cautious when dealing with agents and verify the authenticity of the companies before engaging in transactions to avoid losing large sums of money.
An Appeal
Inspector Ncube said, “An appeal is also being made for those who might have fallen victim to make their reports at the Commercial Crimes Division at Bulawayo Central Police Station.”
He also revealed that the arrested accused persons are currently assisting the police with investigations.
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