UK, Ireland healthcare carers hopefuls lose thousands to scammers

POPULAR Bulawayo mental health activist and founder of a mental health organisation, Win Over Addiction and Trauma (WOTA), Witness Bongani Mguni, has reportedly gone into hiding after allegedly defrauding a number of desperate job seekers of thousands of US dollars by promising them job opportunities abroad.

Mguni, who is reportedly a psychologist, is accused of swindling money from desperate job seekers after posing as an agent of a company involved in facilitating jobs abroad.

According to investigations, Mguni, allegedly working in cahoots with Buhlebenkosi Dube, defrauded multiple job seekers of their cash. The victims allegedly paid around US$3 000 each, believing that Mguni would find them Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) for care work in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Seeing that he had allegedly defrauded people and following complaints from victims of the alleged con, Mguni moved his offices from Bulawayo Centre, likely in an attempt to evade authorities and potential victims.

Some victims have already reported him to the police, who have launched an investigation into the matter. A victim, who preferred anonymity for professional reasons, produced pages of evidence to B-Metro detailing what happened.

"For me, he asked for a deposit so that my wife could relocate, and I gave him R28 000. I promised to pay the rest when it was clear that they were moving. That was in April 2022, and together with his runner named Buhlebenkosi Dube, they had said that by November, my wife would have gone to Ireland.

"When November came, there was nothing, and they said they were facing some challenges with their sponsor in Ireland, so they offered to refund the money.

"We agreed to the refund, and they promised that the process would take only two weeks. November came and went. December came and they asked us to be patient until the end of January. But still, there was nothing by the end of January 2023," said the victim.

He said Dube asked him to be patient with them and said she would pay the money in batches of R5 000 a month until they had settled the whole amount.

"She said she would start paying instalments at the end of April, but she never paid. She and Mguni then blocked us on their cell phones," he said.

He said when they went to check on them at their offices at Bulawayo Centre, they had relocated.

"When I tried their numbers, they were not going through. That is when I was told by someone who took over the space they rented that many people had been there looking for Mguni and Buhlebenkosi about their refunds, and she suspected that both of them had relocated to the UK or somewhere.

"Then someone told me this month that Mguni is in Zimbabwe. When my wife went to Bulawayo Central Police Station to file a charge against him, she was told that these people are on the run and many cases have been opened against them," he said.

Another distraught victim was in tears, narrating how she lost over US$3 000 that she had borrowed to pay Mguni for supposed overseas opportunities.

"He said there were many care work jobs in the UK and Ireland, and I borrowed US$3 000 to pay him for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). However, I have never been taken to the UK. When I tried to get a refund, I failed, and whenever I tried to phone him, his mobile phones were no longer reachable.

"To make matters worse, they have even moved from the place where they were operating from, and we don't even know where they are operating from now," she said.

Some victims, desperate to expose Mguni and seek justice, have taken to social media.

They have posted complaints and payment receipts on a Facebook page titled, "COS scammers and Fraudsters."

This platform is dedicated to exposing individuals involved in fraudulent activities related to Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS).

"Please help me expose a doctor from Bulawayo who scammed me of US$3 000. His name is Dr Bongani Mguni. He is a psychologist who practices at WOTA Mental Health Consultancy.

"His office, which he was operating at Bulawayo Centre, is now closed. He has blocked me, and this Dr is very rude. All I need is my money back. I will send the receipt I was given. We tried to report Dr Mguni but didn't get any help.

"It's so painful. I know it has been said over and over again not to pay for a CoS, but I guess I'm learning the hard way. I also think he has relocated to the UK. Please help," read the post.

Spirited efforts to get comments from both Mguni and Dube were unsuccessful as their mobile phones were unreachable, and even WhatsApp and text messages sent to them were not responded to.