Gauteng woman convicted for Croatia property scam

A Gauteng woman who fleeced an unsuspecting buyer who wanted to buy property in Croatia out of R4.5m was sentenced to an effective five years' imprisonment by the Palm Ridge specialised commercial crimes court on Wednesday.

Hawks spokesperson W/O Thatohatsi Mavimbela said Amanda Gloria Edgar, 44, was convicted of fraud and money laundering after being found to be the brains behind a plot to defraud a victim seeking to buy property in Eastern Europe between October 2015 and September 2016.

“The complainant met up with who they thought was the owner of the property they were intending on purchasing when during the negotiations they agreed that the property would be sold at €850,000 (about R17m). €300,000 (about R6m) would be payable immediately and the rest of the balance would be payable within two years as stipulated in the contract.”

Soon after the meeting the complainant received the contract via email stipulating the amount agreed on, and providing details of an FNB bank account in which payment of more than R4.5m was to be made on the same day.

The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) contacted the complainant after flagging the transaction and alerted him a fraudulent transaction was taking place with his account, but the complainant confirmed the payment was for a property he was buying.

Mavimbela said the matter was reported to the Hawks' serious commercial crime investigation unit and investigations revealed the victim had been scammed and that the bank account in the name of Peak Global belonged to Edgar.

Investigations showed after receiving the money she transferred it to various business and personal bank accounts.

She was arrested at Delft police station on October 23 2023 and subsequently granted bail.

On Wednesday she was convicted and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, five years of which were suspended.

Gauteng Hawks head Maj-Gen Ebrahim Kadwa commended the investigating and prosecution team.

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