Honest Stellenbosch ice-cream maker defrauded of R28 000
The owner of an artisanal ice-cream factory has warned small business in & around Cape Town to refuse cheques as payment after she was defrauded of R28 000.
Owner of Cold Gold Artisan Ice Cream & Sorbet in Stellenbosch, Janine van Zyl, said she was approached by a fraudster going by the name of Victor Mbede who claimed to be the CEO of Aman-dla Tours, a company which West Cape News established shut down three years ago.
Still angry & embarrassed about the loss, van Zyl said she wants to share her story in order to warn other Capetonians about the fraudster. Van Zyl said on September 19, she got a huge order on the phone from Mbede for ice cream flavours amounting to R12 000.
It was not only normal ice creams & sorbets, no I had to make rice milk, soya milk, almond milk, oat milk & quinoa milk from scratch for this order,she said today.
Taking precautionary measures, she said that before she could start on the order, she waited for Mbede to deposit the money into her accoun-t She said on September 20 Mbede paid R40 000 into her accou-nt by mistake via a cheque made out to All Building Supplies.
She said her bank statement did not note it as a cheque but as an iBank payment.
As an honest businesswoman she said she paid the difference (R28 000) back into Mbedes accoun-t After working four days single han-dedly to prepare the order, she said then got an sms from ABSA on September 25 saying cheque returned Realising she had been conned, Van Zyl said she approached ABSA, who are still trying to track down the fraudster.
Nelson Kwashu, a former director of a company trading as Am&la Tours said someone called him on Tuesday looking for Mbede. You are not the first one to call, somebody else called yesterday saying they are looking for Victor,he said, indicating that they did not know him & their company closed shop three years ago. ------Francis Hweshe
Owner of Cold Gold Artisan Ice Cream & Sorbet in Stellenbosch, Janine van Zyl, said she was approached by a fraudster going by the name of Victor Mbede who claimed to be the CEO of Aman-dla Tours, a company which West Cape News established shut down three years ago.
Still angry & embarrassed about the loss, van Zyl said she wants to share her story in order to warn other Capetonians about the fraudster. Van Zyl said on September 19, she got a huge order on the phone from Mbede for ice cream flavours amounting to R12 000.
It was not only normal ice creams & sorbets, no I had to make rice milk, soya milk, almond milk, oat milk & quinoa milk from scratch for this order,she said today.
Taking precautionary measures, she said that before she could start on the order, she waited for Mbede to deposit the money into her accoun-t She said on September 20 Mbede paid R40 000 into her accou-nt by mistake via a cheque made out to All Building Supplies.
She said her bank statement did not note it as a cheque but as an iBank payment.
As an honest businesswoman she said she paid the difference (R28 000) back into Mbedes accoun-t After working four days single han-dedly to prepare the order, she said then got an sms from ABSA on September 25 saying cheque returned Realising she had been conned, Van Zyl said she approached ABSA, who are still trying to track down the fraudster.
Nelson Kwashu, a former director of a company trading as Am&la Tours said someone called him on Tuesday looking for Mbede. You are not the first one to call, somebody else called yesterday saying they are looking for Victor,he said, indicating that they did not know him & their company closed shop three years ago. ------Francis Hweshe
