A CLOSE known friend and associate of Tasneem Moosa, CEO of Hello Darlings, said that her trust and friendship were betrayed after the alleged “holiday swindler” disappeared without a trace, leaving behind hoards of angry clients.
Basheera Dawjee, a Durban social media influencer who goes by the name Modesty by Bash, told IOL that Hello Darlings started out as a women empowerment workshop which slowly transformed into a travel agency.
Further investigations into the licence issue revealed that Moosa may have used various companies with a licence to make the bookings instead of doing it through Hello Darlings.
The CEO of Hello Darlings contacted Dawjee in December 2018, asking her to market the company. In exchange, Dawjee received R2 500 for every person booked. If she sold more than five trips, she could go for free.
She said being an influencer and promoting the trips was how she put food on the table.
But the free trips weren’t actually real holidays, as Moosa made Dawjee earn her keep by constantly feeding the machine that is social media. She added that sometimes she would facilitate the guests.
Dawjee’s husband and children also accompanied her on trips. Her husband worked as a photographer for Hello Darlings during its trips overseas.
But when some clients started asking for refunds because of restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, Moosa had problems paying them, Dawjee said. This is when things took a turn for the worse.
This past Sunday, Dawjee said she told Moosa she could no longer promote the trips because she didn’t believe she could pay the refunds.
“I know she was battling to pay the last bit of refunds but she had told me she had paid R11 million in refunds. She said the people asking for refunds were vicious and it was taking a toll on her.
“Initially I thought it was that, but the more I find out about her dealings the more it puts a question to was it a ponzi scheme and was this always her intention. Because the more I find out from people and how much she owed them in refunds, it’s not what she told me.
“She said one of the reasons she couldn’t refund was because a lot of the money was tied up in her accommodation booking and that the hotels would not refund her money. But someone messaged me today and said they were there and their hotels were not paid for.
“As more time goes by, I realise what she told us were lies. I feel like I never truly knew her and that she scammed and used all of us. Honestly, it’s heartbreaking,” Dawjee said.
“With the bloggers, she knew your family and kids. She bought them gifts. She knew a lot of the people’s parents. She crept into all of our hearts and became a friend and that’s why nobody expected this,” she added.
This is a developing story.
IOL