A woman who has been linked to an online dating scam that allegedly defrauded a person out of R750,000 made a brief appearance in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town.
Karabo Alexandra Moses, 23, was arrested on September 7, by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s (known as Hawks) Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team based in Bellville.
The provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Lieutenant Colonel Siyabulela Vukubi said Moses was arrested after a complaint was lodged with them.
Their investigation revealed an amount of R750,000 was deposited into her bank account by the complainant.
He said she was also directly linked to a high profile case.
“Moses is directly linked to a case of online dating scam where Puis Emokpe, 49, who is regarded as the kingpin is still in custody after his arrest in June 2022,” Vukubi said.
Emokpe and his co-accused are accused of defrauding a woman he met on a dating website of more than R3 million in the Northern Cape.
When the Hawks arrested him, Emokpe had an undisclosed amount of money in his possession.
The woman said she met Emokpe on an online dating site and he claimed to be an Italian based in Cape Town.
He allegedly managed to swindle the woman out of over R3 million claiming his marine company was experiencing financial difficulties.
The matter against Moses has been postponed and moved to the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
Moses is expected to appear alongside Emokpe on September 28.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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