A couple from Sunninghill, Bulawayo which duped multiple job seekers of US$34 801 after promising to secure employment for them in Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland has been arrested.
The suspects identified as Gwendoline Ndlovu (35) and Melusi Ndlovu (36) posed as agents of an undisclosed company which deals in securing jobs, and work permits and processing all travelling documents for job seekers.
Bulawayo provincial spokesperson, Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed their arrest.
“They were approached by eight complainants around Bulawayo on different dates and they were told to pay US$ 4000 each in order to get their services. The complainants got interested and paid fractions of the total amounts charged and payment plans were made since they could not raise the full amounts,” he said.
Inspector Ncube said the complainants were interviewed on different occasions through WhatsApp video and audio calls by a male person who purported to be working with the couple and they were told that they had passed.
“They were then given periods ranging from two weeks to three weeks from the date of interviews that their processes were going to be ready for them to go to their respective destinations. However, the accused persons failed to deliver till the promised period lapsed,” he said.
He said the couple started evading their clients and decided to vacate their known office without notice.
“On the 3rd day of May 2023, one of the complainants was informed that the accused persons were vacating their office and ferrying their property from it. She quickly went there and found them loading the property into the car. She phoned the police and this led to the arrest of Melusi Ndlovu. Gwendoline Ndlovu was also arrested on the same day at Bulawayo central hospital.”
Inspector Ncube said the job seekers lost US$ 34 801.00 and nothing was recovered.
“At least 12 more similar cases have been received from new victims following their arrest.”
He urged members of the public to be cautious when dealing with agents, to verify the authenticity of the companies they want to deal with before doing any transactions so as to avoid losing large sums of money.
“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. The arrested accused persons are helping police with investigations,” said Inspector Ncube.
