By Chinasaokwu Helen Okoro
An Indian-origin woman, Prelyn Mohanlall, has been arrested for scamming 17 couples in South Africa by promising them wedding venues that didn’t exist.
The scam involved taking large sums of money in advance for wedding venues, only for the couples to find the venues deserted on their big day.
Mohanlall, a 53-year-old disbarred attorney, convinced couples to pay for venues she had no affiliation with.
When the couples arrived at the supposed venues, they found them without water or electricity, leaving their special days in ruins.
The scam came to light after one of the affected couples hired a private security company, Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA), to track down Mohanlall.
RUSA discovered through social media that a total of 17 couples had been scammed in this manner across several provinces in South Africa.
Mohanlall, who has a history of fraud spanning over 20 years, was also wanted for defrauding a car dealership and another couple.
Despite her criminal record, Mohanlall denied running a scam, claiming her business had hit a rough patch and she was struggling to repay those who cancelled their weddings.
The case has drawn significant attention, with promises from Mohanlall’s attorney and family to repay all the scam victims.
This has led to speculation that she might avoid jail time if she fulfills her promise to repay the victims.
The incident has left many couples devastated, with one couple sharing their experience of having to cancel their wedding and start planning from scratch.
The community is now calling for stricter regulations to prevent such scams in the future.
