Woman Lies to Investors About Being in Witness Protection, On the Run with R10 Million

Woman Lies to Investors About Being in Witness Protection, On the Run with R10 Million

  • A Gauteng woman is on the run with R10 million she got from investors who invested her PPE business
  • Sweeran Govender scammed her family and friends and has been lying about being placed in witness protection
  • The police say she has taken people's life savings and pensions and has been connected to multiple fraud cases in Gauteng

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JOHANNESBURG - The Hawks and the South African Police Services (SAPS) are on the hunt for Sweeran Govender, who allegedly duped unsuspecting investors of a cumulative R10 million.

The police say she lured in friends and family members into a lucrative investment opportunity into her personal protective equipment (PPE) business and promised that she would pay them dividends.

Witness protection, PPE, Investors, scammed R10 million, police, Hawks
Police are looking for a Gauteng woman who scammed investors of R10 million. Image: Supplied
Source: UGC

SABC News reports that Govender was unreachable shortly after investors had made minimum initial payments into her business.

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Speaking to Briefly News, SAPS National spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo says Govender's scam began in June 2019 and at some point, she was paying out dividends to her investors before stopping.

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Naidoo says she then told her investors that they would not be able to reach her because she is in witness protection, which has been verified to be a lie.

"She has allegedly been lying to her investors that she cannot be contacted as she has been placed in a witness protection programme," Naidoo.

Govender convinced her investors about the legitimacy of her business by creating fake suppliers’ certificates from various departments with the government for PPE’s.

Govender has been positively linked to fraud cases in Gauteng and in some cases, she allegedly scammed people out of their life savings, retirement and disability pensions.

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Prosecutor in case against murder accused cops killed outside court, SA aghast: 'Sad'

Naidoo has called on the public to contact the police if they have any information on Govender's whereabouts. He also reminds the public that harbouring Govender is a criminal offence.

Prosecutor in case against murder accused cops killed outside court

Briefly News previously reported that a prosecutor was shot and killed outside the Umlazi Magistrate's Court in the southwest of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday morning.

TimesLIVE reported that the 36-year-old regional court prosecutor, whose identity has been withheld, was involved in the murder case of two members of the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker confirmed that the shooting happened around 9 am when a vehicle carrying several passengers accosted the prosecutor, whom Briefly News understands was in the process of driving into the court, before firing several shots into the vehicle.

Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Lebogang Mashego avatar

Lebogang Mashego (Current Affairs HOD) Lebogang Mashego runs the Current Affairs desk. She joined the Briefly News team in 2021. She has 6 years of experience in the journalism field. Her journalism career started while studying at Rhodes University, where she worked for the Oppidan Press for 3 years. She worked as a lifestyle writer and editor at W24 and Opera News. She graduated with a BA degree majoring in Journalism and Media Studies in 2017. She's a recipient of the INMA Elevate Scholarship. Email: lebogang.mashego@briefly.co.za