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Yengeni's Arms Deal Link Surfaces |
| Publication |
Sunday Independent |
| Date | 2008-12-20 |
| Reporter | Yugendree Naidoo |
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Web Link |
ANC national executive committee member Tony Yengeni's past
involvement in the controversial multi-million rand arms deal is being used as
leverage in a new email phishing scam.
The sender of the email claims to be "Mrs Mary Yengeni" and the email contains a
link to a BBC news article dated February 2003 reporting on the former ANC chief
whip's admission that he failed to disclose to Parliament kickbacks he received
from the arms deal.
A number of people contacted on a 400-member strong email group indicated they
had also received the spam email.
The email urges the reader to contact "Mrs Yengeni" to take part in an
unspecified project involving $15-million (about R146-million).
The email plays on the former ANC chief whip's November 2005 fraud conviction
for failure to disclose the luxury 4x4 Mercedes Benz he received in 1998.
He was sentenced to four years in prison and served fewer than five months of
his term before being released on parole.
The poor spelling and grammar in the email serve as an alarm about its
fraudulent origins.
It reads: "I am Mary Yengeni.from south African a Parliamentarian Wife i
contacted you to be my project partner and stand as my Husband foreign partner
for investment of $15-million (sic)"
However, Tony Yengeni's wife's name is Lumka - an active member of the ANC in
her own right, having been deployed by the NEC to the North West province.
The "phishing" phenomenon, also known as a 419 scam, is commonly used by
fraudsters from Central Africa claiming to have money syphoned away by one or
other dictatorial African regime.
The phenomenon is well documented on the Internet and numerous sites warn of how
the schemes usually reel in their victims with promises of money if they provide
the use of a legitimate bank account in which to deposit ill-gotten gains.
Once the victims have supplied the confidential information, however, they are
usually told a certain amount of money is needed to unlock the fraudulent funds.
Once the victim deposits the cash, the fraudster disappears without a trace.
While both Lumka and Tony Yengeni were not available for comment, Lumka's
personal assistant, Ntosh Tyala, said Lumka was unaware of the phishing scam and
was doing work for the ANC.
Inspector FC van Wyk at the police provincial media centre said he would forward
information about the e-mail to the commercial branch for feedback. Inspector
Bernadine Steyn said she had not received any complaints regarding the e-mail
scam.
Steyn said criminal activity can be reported to 10111 or at their nearest police
station.
"Should people receive 419 scam emails (another type of scam email), they are
advised not to reply, or, if possible, open them," she said. - West Cape News
With acknowledgements to Yugendree Naidoo and Sunday Independent.