A woman’s plan to relocate and seek employment overseas were derailed after an acquaintance allegedly failed to repay a loan of E38 000.
In a case that has exposed a wider pattern of alleged financial deception involving multiple victims, the suspect, a 46-year-old woman, is alleged to owe several women and family members close to E400 000.
Police sources and victims believe the suspect’s tendency to live beyond her means may have driven her to repeatedly borrow money through deception, using emotionally charged and misleading stories, without any intention or ability to repay.
According to one victim, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the suspect, now a wanted person, approached her claiming she urgently needed funds to pay for her 20-year-old son’s university tuition.
However, the victim later discovered that the son was not enrolled at any institution, raising serious doubts about the legitimacy of the request.
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The suspect’s name has been withheld as she has not yet been formally charged.
The victim explained that at the time the money was borrowed, she had just sold her property and furniture in preparation for relocating abroad. She said she intended to lend part of the proceeds with interest to grow her funds for travel and settlement expenses.
“I knew her through a friend who spoke highly of her character and trustworthiness. Based on what I was told, I believed she would repay me, so I lent her the E38 000,” the woman said.
However, when repayment was due, the suspect allegedly began offering excuses and avoiding contact, prompting the involvement of the Manzini police.
The complainant said police accompanied her on several visits to the suspect’s parental homestead at Fairview, sometimes late at night.
“The last time I saw her, police fetched her from her home around midnight. We spent the night at the police station, and she only managed to pay E10 000,” she said.
The suspect later signed an affidavit committing to repay the outstanding E28 000 in installments between June and August 2025. Despite the written undertaking, the money was never paid.
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“I later learned that she had actually lost her job long before borrowing the money from me,” the victim added, reinforcing suspicions that the suspect had been financing a lifestyle she could no longer afford.
As a result, the complainant said she was forced to abandon her plans to leave the country due to lack of funds.
“As I speak, all I own are clothes that fit into three suitcases. I now have to move from one place to another because I believed I would have left the country by now and have nowhere to stay,” she said.
The same suspect is also alleged to have borrowed E170 000 from another parent under the pretext that she needed money to clear tax for goods allegedly stuck at the border.
She reportedly claimed she had been awarded a tender worth E1 million and needed the funds to facilitate the importation process.
In that instance, the lender reportedly involved a third party after the suspect promised to repay the loan with attractive interest. To date, the money has not been recovered.
Police have warned members of the public against lending large sums of money without proper verification, noting an increase in cases of theft by false pretences, where suspects exploit trust to finance lifestyles beyond their means.
