Khumalo’s phone puzzle

251 29/10/2014 Melinda Ferguson, Kelly Khumalo's biographer and close friend, shows The Star a WhatsApp message purporting to be a plea for help and money , to get her released from the police cells on bail. Picture:Nokuthula Mbatha

251 29/10/2014 Melinda Ferguson, Kelly Khumalo's biographer and close friend, shows The Star a WhatsApp message purporting to be a plea for help and money , to get her released from the police cells on bail. Picture:Nokuthula Mbatha

Published Oct 30, 2014

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Johannesburg - Kelly Khumalo’s friends received what appeared to be distress messages from her cellphone number – while it was being kept for investigations by police.

Police confiscated her phone following the murder of her soccer star boyfriend Senzo Meyiwa on Sunday, but on Monday, her friends received Whatsapp messages requesting financial assistance.

The messages, purportedly written by Khumalo, claimed she had been arrested for speeding on the highway and that her bail had been fixed at R3 100. But all she needed, according to messages The Star has seen, was R2000 to be deposited into an account held by a detective who would then ensure Khumalo would be released without the media knowing about her arrest.

In the messages seen by The Star, the person claimed to be a detective from Kempton Park police station and demanded that money be sent to him through cellphone banking.

Khumalo’s biographer Melinda Ferguson was among those who received the messages but just before she hit the transfer button, Ferguson smelt trouble.

“I contacted a mutual friend to check Kelly’s whereabouts. Shortly, we learnt that she was at home.”

Gauteng provincial police spokesman Brigadier Neville Malila said those scammed could open a case. He said the cellphone had been placed inside exhibit bags before and after investigations, saying such a thing should not have occurred.

The Star

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