Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Cops seek German fraudster
Allegedly jumped over a fence during a raid
POLICE in Gauteng and the Western Cape are looking for a German national, Oliver Thal, who is wanted for several fraud cases.
Private investigator Beresford Hector from NH Investigation Services told Weekend Argus Thal has about 22 warrants of arrest which are all related to fraud.
IRS Forensic Investigations has been appointed by Thal’s victims to investigate his alleged illegal activities and are currently working closely with SAPS and other investigators to apprehend him.
“Thal is a convicted fraudster yet has continued his alleged illicit activities unabated. He is the focus of several investigations and we can confirm that a warrant for his arrest has been issued,” said Chad Thomas from IRS.
“Law enforcement colleagues in Cape Town recently came close to apprehending Thal. His resources are becoming limited and the circle is closing in on him. We anticipate that with the assistance of the public he will be in custody soon,” explained Thomas.
Thomas added that Thal has had multiple cases related to different types of fraud opened against him over the past two decades. He was in the past found guilty of theft and fraud.
Thal allegedly created a profile on an international dating site where he was able to lure in women and con them. One of his alleged Johannesburg victims, who has spoken to the Weekend Argus on a promise of anonymity, said that he posed as a divorced father who was looking after his six-year-old son alone.
“Once we met in 2016 he said he was a multi-billionaire businessman, although he was about to retire because he wanted to enjoy his life and already had various properties in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban. He explained that his business dealt with installing boilers and generators,” she said
After they became acquainted, he told the victim he had a business partner who had gone to Mpumalanga with his girlfriend. According to Thal, the duo supposedly had a car accident on the way back and died.
“He then started showing pictures of the properties he owned and offered to sell me property in Cape Town. I gave him a R150000 deposit for an apartment in Cape Town and another R150000 for a stand in Houghton.”
She explained that he further took R300 000 from her after they both had visited a truck reseller company. He allegedly told the victim that he would buy her the truck which was valued at R1 million. “I gave him R300000 and he said he would put in the other R700000 for me.”
Some time had elapsed and the victim grew concerned. She asked him to rather hold off on the purchase of the truck as she needed the money for another project. She managed to convince him to deposit the R300000 back into her account.
“After this, he said his mother had passed away and left him millions. He said the money was put in a trust fund for his child and I should adopt his child so that I would become his legal guardian and benefit.”
Alarm bells started going off for the victim when she called the company Thal and his partner allegedly worked with to find out if what he had been saying was true.
“They said the person who I was referring to is alive and well and they had no idea who Oliver Thal was. I confronted him and asked for my money back. He said he would pay it back but did not. I opened a case against him in Midrand.”
Gauteng police confirmed a case of fraud was opened in Midrand and it is under investigation. “We cannot divulge more information at this stage to avoid jeopardising the investigation,” said police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo.
A reliable source told the Weekend Argus that Thal’s house in Cape Town was raided a few weeks ago by police. Thal managed to escape by jumping over a fence however his wife was apprehended.