Marriage scam: Couple pretends to be siblings, dupes man

A Magistrates’ court on Wednesday sentenced a Zimbabwean couple to 30 months in prison for duping a man of a bride price of $3,000.

Brian Mathe, 30 and wife Stephanie, 20, who played brother and sister opened a Facebook account in February which they used to lure 56-year-old Nyakanyaka Msipani into a false love relationship.

After opening the Facebook account and hooking up with Msipani, Pullen introduced her husband Mathe as a brother and said that the bride price should be paid to him since their parents were dead.

Magistrate Victoria Mashamba suspended a year each on their jail terms for five years on the condition of good behaviour and another six months on the condition that they restitute Pullen $4,029.

In passing the sentence, Magistrate Mashamba said the couple deserved a custodial sentence.

“You have looked down upon the marriage institution. They caused emotional and psychological stress to the complainant who believed that he was getting married,’’ she said.