Man accused of scamming businessman of more than R500 000 arrested in Durban

JoburgEtc, 25 September 2026. A man accused of defrauding a businessman of more than R500 000 was arrested in Durban and is due to appear at the Benoni Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Arrest and court appearances

Philendran Raman was arrested in Durban a few days before his first court appearance on Wednesday and was remanded in custody pending his next appearance on Monday.

He was arrested with two co-accused: his sister, Kerusha Salig, and a woman named Kumeshni Naidoo. The two women were each granted R3 000 bail with the condition that they report to their nearest police stations once a week.

Allegations from the complainant

The complainant, Sipho Mhlanga, who works in logistics and trucking, says Raman introduced himself in 2023 as a car salesperson and later promised to facilitate a loan of R50 million through people he claimed to know at Absa Bank.

“My friend wanted a car, and he paid R500 000, but the deal did not go well,” Mhlanga said. “He paid back R380 000 and promised to settle the balance. He kept on calling me and my friend, and he eventually won our trust. Little did I know it was the beginning of trouble in my life.”

Mhlanga said Raman introduced Naidoo as a high-ranking Absa employee and that, after weeks of communication, he was told the loan was approved but that upfront fees were required. He said he paid in instalments until the fees exceeded R250 000 and that the total amount he paid to them was “more than R500 000.”

Mhlanga told investigators that some payments went into Salig’s account and some cash was deposited into Naidoo’s account, and that the money was settled in November last year. He said the three then told him the process would resume in January.

Previous allegations and threats

The source material reports that Raman was previously held in Durban in 2012 after allegedly selling hired cars and disappearing with the buyers’ money.

Mhlanga also said that while he was still waiting for the loan money, one of the women called to say a client who was buying a car had Raman arrested over a misunderstanding. He went to bail Raman out so they could finalise his deal. In court after that hearing, an Indian woman told Mhlanga Raman had made her sell a watch and a wedding ring worth millions of rands after promising a loan.

“When I confronted him, he started threatening me, saying he would send people to come and kill me. I opened the case in July, and they were arrested this week,” Mhlanga said. “I am appealing to anyone who has been scammed by these people to come forward so we can have a strong case against them.”

Police response

Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Tintswalo Sibeko confirmed the fraud case was being investigated by Benoni police and that three suspects were arrested and appeared in court. She said the two female suspects are out on bail while the male suspect was remanded in custody and will appear in court on Monday.

A police station source told reporters there were many businesspeople who were reportedly scammed by Raman and that most were afraid because he had threatened them prior to his arrest.

What happens next

The accused will return to the Benoni Magistrate’s Court on Monday for the next stage of the matter.