A popular Nigerian nightclub owner-convicted scammer, Abdul Samson Olatunji, and his accomplice, Adedayo Quandri, have been jailed in South Africa for defrauding property traders.
The Nigerian nationals were sentenced by the Johannesburg specialised commercial crimes court on Friday, July 8, 2022, the same day Olatunji was charged with another fraud case.
According to reports, Olatunji and Adedayo Quandri were sentenced to eight and seven years’ imprisonment respectively by the court, sitting in Palm Ridge.
Olatunji’s nightclub, Hydro Lounge, was a well-known hangout spot in Sandton for alleged members of the Nigerian Black Axe organised crime group and also featured Nigerian musicians.
He was arrested in 2019 while driving his R2.7m Bentley Cabriolet. He scammed SA businesses out of millions of rand which he used to purchase luxury vehicles including a Mercedes-Benz and a Porsche. Police are understood to have recovered just R700 000 (N17.3m) in cash from the two. The cash was found in a closet at their luxury Waterfall Estate rented home.
According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, the duo cloned a law firm’s email accounts and stole over R11m from clients.
Both men pleaded guilty and were convicted on 24 counts of theft, related to cloning the email addresses of conveyancers DM5 and Yaron Waks,” said Mjonondwane.
The law firms handled property sales and registrations on behalf of its clients, Amogelang Holdings and Lesley Warther respectively. The accused used spyware and viruses to monitor emails between the law firms and their clients (property traders) that were about to do/receive transfers from the conveyancers after their properties were sold.
“They would then send their banking details to the conveyancers, as though these emails were from the property traders, resulting in R7.8m and R4.2m being diverted to their accounts.”
Olatunji’s troubles are just starting, however, as police charged him for fraud in relation to millions of rand stolen from another victim after court proceedings on Friday.
