A 53-year-old Indian-origin South African woman, Prelyn Mohanlall, has been arrested for scamming 17 couples across the country by selling the same wedding venue to multiple parties on the same day. The woman, a disbarred attorney, was tracked down by private security company Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) after several victims came forward.
Mohanlall allegedly convinced couples to pay large sums in advance for wedding venues, which she had no connection to. When the couples arrived at the locations, they found the venues empty, without basic amenities such as water or electricity, leaving them devastated on their special day.
The scam was uncovered after one of the couples, who had fallen victim to the fraud in December, contacted RUSA for assistance. Through their investigation, RUSA identified 17 couples across various provinces in South Africa who had been similarly scammed.
Authorities later revealed that Mohanlall had a history of criminal activity. In addition to the wedding venue scam, she was also linked to two cases of fraud in Gauteng in 2024, involving a car dealership and a couple. She had been disbarred as a criminal attorney after stealing funds from a client’s trust fund.
Despite being confronted with the charges, Mohanlall denied that she was running a scam. She claimed that her business had hit a rough patch, causing her to fall behind on refunds for couples whose weddings were canceled. She insisted she owed nine couples a total of R60,000 and was planning to repay them in full.
However, the damage was already done, and the couples affected shared the emotional toll of the scam, including the embarrassment and financial strain of having to cancel and restart their wedding plans.
Mohanlall’s case highlights the growing issue of scams targeting vulnerable individuals, with authorities warning of the risks posed by unscrupulous individuals in the wedding industry.
