THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
Mnisi was too wily for Matse
MZANSI’S alleged high-flying con artist Alfrida Matse allegedly tried to pull one over Mshoza’s rich husband Jacob Mnisi
– but he was one step ahead of her.
This was revealed by Pretoria businessman Tebogo Tsotetsi who said he was swindled out of R1m by Matse.
Tsotetsi says Matse approached Mnisi and asked him to loan her R500 000.
She promised to repay him R650 000 when she received the R100m she claimed she was going to inherit from her dead parents. She had used the same modus operandi on several other victims, about whom Sunday World reported over the last two weeks.
But the incredulous Mnisi tacitly refused to grant her the loan after discovering that the story about her dead parents and the millions she’d inherited from them was pure banana oil.
Tsotetsi, who owns a R3,3m manor in one of Pretoria’s genteel suburbs, says he and the Limpopo-born Matse went together to Mpumalanga, where they met Mnisi after she made an appointment to see him.
“She told Mnisi she had inherited R100m from her dead parents and that she wanted him to loan her R500 000 to pay some Reserve Bank officials to expedite the process of clearing her funds, which were stuck in the bank’s coffers.
“With my permission, she then asked Mnisi to keep my house’s title deed as surety or repayment guarantee.
“Jacob told us to come back the next day and when we returned there he told us to go and that he would phone us later,” he says.
Tsotetsi says Mnisi did not loan them the dosh because he realised Matse’s claims were a tall story.
Mnisi confirms that Matse asked him for a R500 000 loan.
“She promised to repay me R650 000. I asked my lawyers to draft a contract after she told me that I would keep the title deed of her house.
“But she did not own that house and that is why I didn’t give her the money.
“I feel pity for those who gave her money under false pretences. They should have screened her and sought legal counsel before giving her the money,” he says.
Sunday World reported two weeks ago that Princess of Africa Yvonne Chaka Chaka was swindled out of R150 000 and last week that two Limpopo businessmen were also conned R850 000 and R250 000 each, allegedly by Matse.
She also allegedly cheated pensioners out of their cash by promising them huge returns if they invested in a Ponzi scheme she ran in Pretoria.
Her long list of alleged victims includes a man she double-crossed out of R1m through a phony hotel construction project.
She is currently in the Limpopo police’s custody and will face a battery of charges on Tuesday.
malatjin@sundayworld.co.za WHEN her business collapsed, Felicia Mabuza-Suttle made sure the affected 57 employees didn’t go down with her Moon.
Mabuza-Suttle told Sunday World this week that upon the takeover of her restaurant and entertainment venue Back of The Moon by giant hotel and leisure company Tsogo Sun, she facilitated the staff’s re-employment.
“Of the 57 staff members, including management, all were taken over except for one who opted to continue with her studies,” she said from her US home.
Mabuza-Suttle says she tried everything in her power to save the business but being overseas did not help.
She says she made efforts to establish and improve working relations with business partner Mohammed Dada, but to no avail.
As a result, when the liquidation process was concluded, neither Mabuza-Suttle nor Dada were present in court.
“I did everything in my power to help … But I’m glad that none of our staffers have been thrown out on the street as a result,” she says.
chelemuk@sundayworld.co.za