A 48-year-old man convicted of stealing about R1.6 million from punters through a lottery scam was this week sent to prison.
The Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday sentenced Kingsley Osunde to three years of direct imprisonment for money laundering.
The court also slapped Osunde with an additional two years imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years, on condition that he pays an amount of R200 000 into a complainant’s bank account.
Osunde, who sent SMSs to his victims saying they had won a lottery prize but their winnings would only be released once they paid a deposit, was also found guilty of contravention of the Immigration Act.
For being in South Africa illegally Osunde was sentenced to six months imprisonment wholly suspended for five years.
The court further declared Osunde unfit to possess a gun.
Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu said the accused was arrested in August last year after a woman laid a complaint with the police.
She complained that she had paid a deposit as requested and had not received her lottery “winnings”.
Between May and July 2016 the complainant received an SMS on her cellphone saying that she had won R750 000 from the lottery, recounted Captain Mulamu.
“However, a follow-up message was an instruction for her to deposit money into the accused’s bank account for a clearance certificate to release the money,” said Captain Mulamu,
“When the complainant realised that the ‘lottery’ money she won was not coming her way, she then reported the case.”
Investigations by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation in Johannesburg revealed that as much as R467 000 was deposited into Osunde’s bank account in different transactions during the period the complainant went to the police.
Osunde was arrested in August 2021 at Hillbrow and remained in custody until his sentencing this week.
“During his court appearance, the investigation team successfully opposed bail and was remanded in custody,” said Captain Mulamu.
“Further investigation revealed that Osunde did not possess legal documents for citizenship in South Africa.”
All in all, it is estimated that Osunde could have scammed gullible people out of more than R1,6 million.
Commenting on Osunde’s sentence, the Hawks provincial head in Gauteng, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa said: “We are pleased that the perpetrator will face the consequences of his scamming traits against vulnerable communities”.
