British tycoon gives £1,5 million to Zimbabwe born hairdresser

A MARRIED businessman has told how he wrecked his life by giving £1.5million to a hairdresser.

Robin Dixon, 69, said he handed over the huge sum to Zimbabwe-born Lumbidzani Moyo in a string of payments over eight years.

He added: "I've ruined my life and put my family through hell. I've been very gullible.

"Saying it's a mess is an understatement. I don't know if I'll get any money back or how my family will recover."

Police have now been called in by Dixon's family to examine a series of bank transactions following an audit at his firm, Robin Dixon & Son Ltd.

Detectives will probe his extraordinary claim that the money was given to 40-year-old Moyo, known as Sisa, the Daily Record reports.

She denies taking anything from Dixon. But his family fear he is a victim of "rinsing", where love-struck older men are charmed into giving money and gifts to younger women.

Dixon resigned as a director of his company after accountants discovered a massive hole in the accounts.

It is alleged he gave Moyo £1million of the firm's money and £500,000 of his own cash.

After the audit, Dixon told his shocked family what he had done. They lodged a complaint with Action Fraud, Britain's national reporting centre for fraud and cyber-crime.

Detectives interviewed Dixon for almost five hours last week.

Dixon and Moyo first got in-touch around 2007, and sources say he soon gave her £20,000 after they became close.

She set up her own beauty salon, Elegance by Sisa, in Glasgow a year later.

It was originally based in Govanhill, then moved to the "Hielanman's Umbrella" on Argyle Street, next to the city's Central Station.

Dixon claims that Moyo told him she was fighting for custody of a niece living in Zimbabwe.

She allegedly told him she needed money to pay legal fees and secure the youngster's visa to start a new life in Scotland.

Dixon says she told him the cash would be repaid from the sale of a house she owned in South Africa.

It's alleged he gave Moyo £500,000 in 2013 and a similar amount in 2014.

As well as the two six-figure transactions, there were a series of five-figure deposits.

The money has never been returned.

Dixon also claims he believed Moyo was in Africa when in fact she hadn't left Scotland.

He set up Robin Dixon & Son, which specialises in managing forestry and woodland, with his son Andrew in 2003.

But he gave up his directorship of the company last month, although he remained as an employee.

And he faces financial ruin as he battles to claw back some of the lost cash.

Dixon has put the four-bedroom home he shares with wife Isobel in Tarbert, Argyll, on the market.

Estate agents selling the property, which Dixon built himself in the 1970s, are looking for offers in excess of £290,000.

Dixon told a Sunday Mail reporter: "I thought Sisa needed the money to pay legal fees in a custody battle for her niece in Zimbabwe.

"She was very convincing and I was too trusting and gullible.

"I thought she was in Zimbabwe, fighting for the right to bring the girl to Scotland.

"I have grandchildren who mean a great deal to me and the story affected me. I wanted to help this little girl and gave her cash.

"Sisa told me she would pay me back from the sale of a house in South Africa.

"I realise now I've been stupid.

"I was with police for hours this week and gave them a statement.

"Taking money out of the company I worked hard to build and putting everything at risk, it's not how I would normally behave.

"I don't know what's going to happen next."

Mercedes-driving Moyo married health and safety manager Gavin Russell at a ceremony in Lochgreen House Hotel in Troon last year.

The pair live together in a detached house in Dundonald, Ayrshire.

Moyo was nominated for an award at the INAA Hair and Beauty Awards last year. She was a finalist in the Afro weave stylist of the year category.

Her Glasgow salon specialises in Afro and mixed-race hairdressing, according to its website.

A source said: "Moyo has cut off contact with Robin. She claims that he's been pestering her.

"They were friends for years, but not anymore.

"He has asked her to pay back money he says she owes but she denies everything.

"People have been looking for her at the shop.

"The shop is always busy but she's not in every day."

When we approached Moyo on Friday, she said: "I've not received anything from Robin. I've no comment."

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "We can confirm that a report has been received through Action Fraud and inquiries are on-going.

"However, no criminality has been established at this time."