Malawi: The police force of the Mitundu region of Lilongwe district has arrested 39-year-old Ramsey Samuel. The police force clarified that the arrest was made on the suspicion that the individual is responsible for multiple thefts.
Allegedly, the suspect has been stealing property including cellphones from various Facebook friends. These women hail from different parts of the country, whom the suspect invited to Mitundu for a romantic date.
Lilongwe Police station Spokesperson Inspector Hestings Chigalu confirmed the arrest of the suspect. He revealed that Samuel was flooding the Facebook platform with friend requests. He was targeting unsuspecting women, promising them financial support, and marriage proposals.
“In a single instance, one of the seven victims, a 32-year-old woman from Nkhamenya in Kasungu, told police that in September, 2023 three days after accepting Samuel’s friend request on Facebook, the suspect proposed a love affair to her which she also happily accepted”. Said Chigalu.
Meanwhile the victim asked Samuel for money to travel to Mitundu upon being invited for a romantic encounter. The suspect refused to send the money and the victim used her own finances to travel to the location.
The victim revealed that Ramsey Samuel had assured her that he would refund the money to her once she is with him. The victim travelled to Mitundu where she spent a night together with the suspect at a certain resthouse.
While the Nkhamenya victim was taking a shower the following morning, the suspect disappeared with two cellphones. The cellphones were worth K180 thousand. The officials have confirmed that a similar ordeal was reported by six other victims.
Samuel, who has so far been charged with three separate counts of theft, has admitted to have stolen five cellphones worth K385 thousand from three different women in a similar fashion.
Meanwhile, police in Lilongwe is have advised women, girls to be alert and take extra caution when dealing with people whom they only know through social media to avoid falling prey to crooks like the suspect.
Ramsey Samuel hails from Chidzulumbi Village, Traditional Authority Masula in Lilongwe District.