Scammed: Fake ‘Mark Hermanus’ — who allegedly defrauded online lover of R3 million — back in court

Nigerian man, Gabriel Okori, has been remanded in custody when he appeared before the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court facing charges of fraud and theft.

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks said Okori, 39, appeared before the Pretoria court on Monday, after he was arrested earlier this month in Cape Town.

Okori was arrested by the Hawks, assisted by City of Cape Town’s law enforcement and a private security company.

The Hawks in Gauteng said the case against Okori was postponed to October 28, when he is expected to formally apply for bail.

Previously, Gauteng spokesperson for the Hawks, Warrant Officer Thatohatsi Mavimbela said Okori allegedly scammed a woman who he met online, and she believed she was involved with a white man named Mark Hermanus.

“The complainant in the matter alleges that she met what she thought was a white male on Facebook by the name of Mark Hermanus, the two exchanged cellphone numbers and began chatting on instant messaging (WhatsApp),” said Mavimbela.

“While the pair were getting to know each other, ‘Mark Hermanus’ informed the complainant that his son was sick and asked the complainant to lend him money for his son’s medical bills.”

The Hawks said the woman kept giving “Mark Hermanus” money, and the bill escalated to over R3 million.

The man promise he would pay her back, once he had paid all his son’s medical bills. However, he never paid back the money.

“The matter was reported to the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation (unit) which led to the arrest of the suspect who was traced and identified as Gabriel Okori, a Nigerian national in Cape Town on October 3,” said Mavimbela.

Okori made his first appearance before the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday last week, and a second court appearance on Monday this week.

IOL has been running the scammed series, where numerous South African women have now joined hands, speaking out against the rampant romance scams.

The women who are often breadwinners in their households, are left destitute, emotionally traumatised with some women reportedly committing suicide after being scammed.

In July, IOL reported that a Gauteng mother in her 50s is ruing the day she met the man who became her lover for about a year, before he disappeared with her pension lump sum of R2.8 million, leaving her and her two sons without enough to eat.

In an interview with IOL, Nothando, the mother whose identity is withheld to protect her from victimisation, opened a case at Pretoria North SA Police Service (SAPS), which has been confirmed by Gauteng police.

The woman in her 50s met the charming man who introduced himself as Henry Mugisha. In her mind, it was a chance meeting after Mugisha came to her workplace — a public school in Gauteng in January 2023. He insisted he was looking for a place for his son, but in hindsight, Nothando believes it was all an act.

During the year they dated – from January 2023 until January 2024 when she realised that she has been scammed — Nothando never got to meet or see the purported son.

As the love blossomed, Mugisha soon dangled an idea of undertaking a joint business venture and Nothando swallowed the idea, hook line and sinker.

As the relationship strengthened, the unsuspecting woman was persuaded to resign from her work in government, to get her pension lump sum, which would ostensibly be invested into the business venture.

Part of the scam involved Nothando having to withdraw her pension lump sum, so that it can be taken to the “ancestors” for a blessing.

Mugisha undertook to also raise his millions to invest in the business venture.

Nothando proposed that the couple venture into the business of student accommodation which is booming across Gauteng, and Mugisha was open to the idea. The couple agreed to pool their funds, with Mugisha actually promising to bring in more money than the almost R3 million Nothando had brought.

IOL