‘Charming con woman looted my dad’s life savings’

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Johannesburg - The “charming” Joburg mother of a star cricket player swindled a 78-year-old man out of his life savings and robbed him of his dignity in his final years, says his anguished daughter. “Tricksters” such as Micha McKerr reportedly come across as “sweet, helpful and completely confident” but “will take advantage of anyone they can”. This was the warning from Dianne Bayley, a former editor of Marketing Web, who wrote an online account on BizNews this week in an attempt to protect the elderly from predators like McKerr, detailing how she stole R200 000 from Bailey’s father, who was living in a retirement village in Olivedale, over two months. In June, McKerr, whose son Conor was earlier this year signed by English cricket club, Surrey, was sentenced to three years of house arrest for stealing from Bayley’s father. The 43-year-old was already serving a five-year suspended sentence for a R200 000 theft from an elderly Randburg couple. Her son attended the upmarket St John’s College. “She makes friends with the elderly people in the village her mother is residing at and gains their trust,” explained Bayley. “She borrows a little money and then gives it back if the elderly person remembers to ask for it. If they don’t... she knows how vulnerable they are,” she told the Saturday Star.

Her father was the “perfect target” and suffered from slight dementia. “My father’s wallet went missing and was then returned by a mysterious “Brenda Horowitz”, who called to say she found it in a parking lot. She refused my offer to collect it, and left it with the guards at my dad’s village some days later.”

All the bank cards were there. “Then the big spend started. Ironically, the same bank that has called me to verify my own purchases didn’t notice that almost R200 000 was removed from my dad’s account... starting with R1 000 here and R1 500 there and then up to R18 000 in one night at a casino, and R10 000 in a single casino transaction.”

When she reported the case to the Douglasdale police, they reportedly found McKerr hidden in the cupboard of her mother’s rented home in the retirement village. She was arrested immediately.

Colonel Maisha Bopape, the Douglasdale police spokesman, said the police were investigating three cases of fraud - two from Durban North and one from Douglasdale - against McKerr, who reportedly used the alias Paula Labuschagne.

McKerr, who described herself online as a “cubicle fugitive, experience engineer, Mensa Mind and philanthropist”, could not be reached on Friday, but on her Facebook profile in June suggested there was a malicious campaign against her.

Biznews founder Alec Hogg described McKerr as a “callous conwoman” who “changes personae to stay one step ahead of the law”.

Bayley is disappointed that McKerr had not been jailed “though she was found guilty of more than 90 counts of theft and fraud.

She was handed a sentence of house arrest, in a leafy northern suburbs neighbourhood, while my father is now both broke and broken. The sprightly old gent with a daily routine now calls me several times a day to ask where his bank card is. McKerr stripped him of the dignity of drawing his own money.”

While the prosecutor had strongly suggested a jail sentence, McKerr pleaded “mental illness” and stated she was a single mom.

“But her son is almost 19 and doesn’t live in this country.”

As McKerr’s mother lived in the retirement complex, she was easily trusted. “That’s how she made friends. Her mother... introduced her to people.”

Another elderly Randburg resident, who did not want to be named, told how McKerr had stolen about R200 000-worth of items from his home in 2013. “My wife and I were going overseas for six weeks. We asked a friend of ours to house-sit for us. While we were gone, (McKerr) befriended her and stole a key, so she had access to our unit. While our friend was working, McKerr stole our stuff.

“We were able to prove (our belongings) had been pawned at a dozen Cash Converters in our area. She is a professional con artist and has a list of cases against her as long as my arm,” he claimed.

One woman claimed she had lost her job, and then her home, when McKerr swindled her in order to stay at a luxury hotel, while another told Bayley how McKerr stayed for six days in her guest house, paid fraudulently and departed with the gate remote control. A case has been opened with the police.

McKerr’s corrections officer, who could not be named, said she would be monitored while under house arrest.

A recent tweet of McKerr’s read: “If only success was as simple as choosing between 2 options: right/wrong; black/white. In truth, success is the conquering of the grey.”

Saturday Star