Francois Swart is accused of scamming his friends out of R250,000
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Francois Swart, accused of running a holiday scam that swindled people out of hundreds of thousands of rands now faces a charge of fraud.
It is alleged that Swart scammed 'his friends' out of R250,000 trip to the Maldives.
The case, being handled by AfriForum's Private Prosecution Unit, is one of five matters.
"The alleged holiday swindler remains in custody while awaiting the outcome of his bail application in another case being handled by the unit," said the unit's Barry Bateman.
Darren Gallias claims that in August 2023, he gave more than R250,000 to Swart's company, Priority Escapes, for a trip to the Maldives scheduled for December of the same year.
Bateman said Gallias received a booking confirmation but Swart messaged Gallias four days later, saying Priority Escapes had “hit a bump in the road” and needed to “regroup as a business”.
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"Gallias conducted his own investigation and discovered that neither his flights nor his accommodations had been booked or paid for," he said.
Investigations so far revealed that Swart informed clients in July 2023 that he could not meet his financial obligations.
"However, he continued to accept monies for holidays that never materialised. The other cases with the unit are those of Ruan Kruger, Louis Andre Botha, Casper Groenewald, and couple Pamela-Anne Dolan and Bugs van Heerden," Bateman said.
Bateman explained that the cases are uncomplicated and straightforward.
"The complainants paid the suspect in full to make holiday arrangements on their behalf. The suspect then presented them with documents claiming that the trip to the Maldives, including flights and hotel accommodation, had been arranged and paid for in full. It was later discovered that all of the documents were falsified," he added.
Gallias said he felt compelled to open a criminal case.
Detailing his relationship with Swart, he said the Priority Escapes managing director was a friend of his wife's who the couple trusted.
"We had booked a great holiday with him before and had no reason to believe that this wouldn’t be the same experience. However, we paid R252 000 on the Thursday and by the Saturday he closed his business. Unfortunately, we lost our holiday. I’m not doing this for me, but for all those people who had lost their hard earnings. I believe there was even a lady who was diagnosed with cancer that had saved up all of her money for this holiday. I am coming forward to help those people," he said.
Last month, IOL reported that the 40-year-old appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Palm Ridge Magistrates after he handed himself over to police.
He was granted R10,000 bail and the case postponed to April 2, said spokesperson for the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) Colonel Katlego Mogale.
IOL first reported on Swart in 2023 when he allegedly took money from scores of people wanting to travel on holiday to the Maldives.
seanne.rall@iol.co.za
IOL
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