Missing family with MXit conman
2008-06-18 07:15
Boksburg - A family from the East Rand who disappeared without a trace are presumed to be in the hands of an alleged conman.
Boksburg North police said that Tamryn Clur, 21, her son Tyler, four, her brother Ivan, 28, and her parents, Charles, 68, and Myra, 62, who were last seen on April 3, were swindled out of their money by Tamryn's fiancé, Cole Heart 28.
This came to light after several people told the police about Heart after reading Beeld's report about the missing family.
Investigating officer Gidion O'Neill said he had been contacted by nine people who apparently had been duped by Heart.
O'Neill said: "His ID is fake and he is also known as Carl Labuschagne. He meets women through MXit and makes as if he is a soldier who has just returned from Iraq.
"He pretends to be a multimillionaire and promises his victims the earth."
Resigned from their jobs
A family who managed a holiday resort in Margate were now without jobs or a place to live after Heart apparently conned them.
"After Cole offered us jobs at the resort with R20 000 salaries, cars, accommodation and medical cover, we resigned from our jobs, took our children out of school and moved out of our company flat.
"He was with us when we were packing our stuff in boxes and kept saying, 'Tannie, don't drop me.'
"Now, we're living like squatters. We have nothing."
The family, who did not to make their names public, apparently signed a three-year contract with Heart and handed over their banking details and ID numbers to him.