Hundreds of East London residents, who invested their hard-earned cash in a money-making scheme, were left devastated yesterday when the investment company disappeared overnight.
Mzantsi Trading Centre, which promised to double clients’ money within 15 business days, had been operating on the first floor at Jabex House on the corner of Buffalo and Fleet streets in East London since the beginning of February.
Eager clients arrived at the offices yesterday to claim their money after the 15-day waiting period, only to discover an abandoned office space, with nothing but office furniture and pamphlets scattered on the floor.
The Daily Dispatch arrived at the building just after 10am yesterday, where scores of devastated people had gathered at the entrance of the building. Others looted the office.
Nwabisa Maja, a 28-year-old mother of two, said she first heard of the scheme through her neighbour, who had been employed by the team of four heading the centre.
“I first put in R3000 and after 15 days I received my R6000, which I only took R2000 of before I reinvested the other R4000 a few days later,” Maja said.
“I was shocked to get a call from my neighbour, who had arrived for work as usual only to find that her colleagues were gone without any notification or communication.
“That’s when I came down here to see for myself, otherwise I was due to collect my R8000 on April 1.”
Mkhuseli Godlwana, 37, said he had made a loan from a bank to invest R20000 with the intention of repaying the loan when his money had doubled.
“What have I gotten myself into? I cannot believe this has happened,” he screamed.
Mmeli Mziletti, 30, said he had come to try his luck with R300, after hearing about the successful repayments his friends had received.
“I have been lucky but those that did get their money doubled have also been lucky.”
The Dispatch was given contact numbers for two of the four people running the scheme, but all calls went straight to voicemail yesterday.
Nelisa Jayiti, a receptionist at a doctor’s surgery on the same floor, said she arrived at the premises at 8am when people were queuing outside the building.
“That was the norm around here – people were queuing daily to either deposit or claim their money since the company came in February, but they became very aggressive when they discovered they had left,” she said.
“We called the police to come and calm the people down and stop them from vandalising our office equipment,” she added.
Police spokeswoman warrant officer Hazel Mqala said they had tried to retrieve some of the goods looted by the disgruntled people found on streets near the building.
“We are currently investigating a case of fraud, but people are also warned to be very wary of quick money-making schemes.”
Landlord Paul van Clittert said he was surprised by the company’s sudden exit. He said the company had signed a two-year lease.
“When they started in early February they had requested two offices to operate their business, but each week they were asking for more space as more people came to make use of their services.”
Van Clittert said he now had to pay for the damage done to the building, despite having lost paying tenants. — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
‘Firm’ fleeces trusting ‘clients’ and flees
Mzantsi Trading Centre, which promised to double clients’ money within 15 business days, had been operating on the first floor at Jabex House on the corner of Buffalo and Fleet streets in East London since the beginning of February.
Eager clients arrived at the offices yesterday to claim their money after the 15-day waiting period, only to discover an abandoned office space, with nothing but office furniture and pamphlets scattered on the floor.
The Daily Dispatch arrived at the building just after 10am yesterday, where scores of devastated people had gathered at the entrance of the building. Others looted the office.
Nwabisa Maja, a 28-year-old mother of two, said she first heard of the scheme through her neighbour, who had been employed by the team of four heading the centre.
“I first put in R3000 and after 15 days I received my R6000, which I only took R2000 of before I reinvested the other R4000 a few days later,” Maja said.
“I was shocked to get a call from my neighbour, who had arrived for work as usual only to find that her colleagues were gone without any notification or communication.
“That’s when I came down here to see for myself, otherwise I was due to collect my R8000 on April 1.”
Mkhuseli Godlwana, 37, said he had made a loan from a bank to invest R20000 with the intention of repaying the loan when his money had doubled.
“What have I gotten myself into? I cannot believe this has happened,” he screamed.
Mmeli Mziletti, 30, said he had come to try his luck with R300, after hearing about the successful repayments his friends had received.
“I have been lucky but those that did get their money doubled have also been lucky.”
The Dispatch was given contact numbers for two of the four people running the scheme, but all calls went straight to voicemail yesterday.
Nelisa Jayiti, a receptionist at a doctor’s surgery on the same floor, said she arrived at the premises at 8am when people were queuing outside the building.
“That was the norm around here – people were queuing daily to either deposit or claim their money since the company came in February, but they became very aggressive when they discovered they had left,” she said.
“We called the police to come and calm the people down and stop them from vandalising our office equipment,” she added.
Police spokeswoman warrant officer Hazel Mqala said they had tried to retrieve some of the goods looted by the disgruntled people found on streets near the building.
“We are currently investigating a case of fraud, but people are also warned to be very wary of quick money-making schemes.”
Landlord Paul van Clittert said he was surprised by the company’s sudden exit. He said the company had signed a two-year lease.
“When they started in early February they had requested two offices to operate their business, but each week they were asking for more space as more people came to make use of their services.”
Van Clittert said he now had to pay for the damage done to the building, despite having lost paying tenants. — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
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