Cape Town – A 33-year-old foreign national who reportedly conned a pensioner from Durban of over R700 000 has been sentenced to five years imprisonment.
Felix Tepi Atto who is a Cameroonian national pretended to be a traditional healer and promised to turn the pensioner’s R738 500 into millions, reports said.
Atto was convicted of the theft committed in 2018 in the Durban Regional Court, IOL reported.
“The convicted thief presented himself as a traditional healer to the victim and made him believe that he would multiply his pension money to the tune of 5 million rand,” police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo was quoted as saying in the report.
Ngcobo said the pensioner gave Atto his money over the period of two years and even borrowed from his former employer when his funds were depleted, Ngcobo said.
“He became suspicious when he did not receive the R5 million he was promised.”
On February 12 in 2020, the matter was reported to the police, and Atto was arrested the same day in Durban, reported News24.
According to the report, he was denied bail and remained in custody until his sentencing.
The report said three years of his sentence were suspended on condition that he was not found guilty of a similar offence during the period of suspension.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
