Confessions of a con artist

A WINDHOEK resident who allegedly lost close to N$6 000 to a con artist earlier this year got sweet revenge when she ran into him on a chance visit to the Windhoek Police Station.

The victim, Elke Fleing, this weekend laid fraud charges against Charity Peter Eiseb after he was forced late last month to confess to his alleged crimes. Fleing apparently got to know Eiseb when he approached her for work last year and she obliged.”I was really impressed.He was very good at handyman stuff and electrical work.He had a very pleasant personality and he even spoke fluent German,” she recalled this past weekend.As soon as her new handyman had gained her trust, however, he allegedly approached with an offer of “precious stones” that he said he could obtain from small-scale miners in the Erongo and Oshikoto regions.Fleing, who is self-employed and has an interest in trading in arts and crafts, says she was interested, and fell for Eiseb’s offer of “some really nice stones” from the coast.In March, Fleing filled Eiseb’s car with fuel and sent him on his way with N$3 000 to buy stones.A day later Eiseb phoned her, saying he needed another N$1 700 to clinch the deal.”Again one day later I got in contact with him and ended up paying him another N$300 because his car broke down,” she said.”That was the last time I could reach him on his cellphone, and I didn’t see him again.Nor did I get my minerals or my money back,” she said.Months went by, she said, and in June when a friend of hers ended up behind bars, a visit to the Windhoek Police Station resulted in a chance meeting with Eiseb, who had been arrested on an unrelated charge.Fleing said while she now has a written confession from Eiseb, she still hasn’t got her money back.She laid a criminal case this past weekend, registered as CR 899/07/08.Eiseb has since been moved to the Windhoek Central Prison.Fleing apparently got to know Eiseb when he approached her for work last year and she obliged.”I was really impressed.He was very good at handyman stuff and electrical work.He had a very pleasant personality and he even spoke fluent German,” she recalled this past weekend.As soon as her new handyman had gained her trust, however, he allegedly approached with an offer of “precious stones” that he said he could obtain from small-scale miners in the Erongo and Oshikoto regions.Fleing, who is self-employed and has an interest in trading in arts and crafts, says she was interested, and fell for Eiseb’s offer of “some really nice stones” from the coast.In March, Fleing filled Eiseb’s car with fuel and sent him on his way with N$3 000 to buy stones.A day later Eiseb phoned her, saying he needed another N$1 700 to clinch the deal.”Again one day later I got in contact with him and ended up paying him another N$300 because his car broke down,” she said.”That was the last time I could reach him on his cellphone, and I didn’t see him again.Nor did I get my minerals or my money back,” she said.Months went by, she said, and in June when a friend of hers ended up behind bars, a visit to the Windhoek Police Station resulted in a chance meeting with Eiseb, who had been arrested on an unrelated charge.Fleing said while she now has a written confession from Eiseb, she still hasn’t got her money back.She laid a criminal case this past weekend, registered as CR 899/07/08.Eiseb has since been moved to the Windhoek Central Prison.