She emailed us, saying:
"My fiance was robbed off by a young man commonly know as Bling. He obtained monies amounting to P120 000 in February 2012 on agreement that he will be delivering an X5 BMW car from UK in three weeks. After this period my fiance reported the matter to the police in Francistown and there was no development on this case.
He was paid by a cheque amounting to P108,000 for Standard Chartered bank and P12,000 cash."
We contacted "Bling", otherwise known as Michael "Fortune" Balapi, and asked him for his reaction. He admitted that he did indeed take the money and hadn't actually delivered anything in return. He also conceded that he had to repay them somehow. However when we pushed him to put this in writing and to at least make some payment up-front and to acknowledge the situation he became evasive, coming up with a variety of rather feeble excuses.We spoke to him today and this was when things became a bit more challenging, maybe even a little aggressive. He seemed upset to find out that we had discovered him on Facebook (where he ostentatiously demonstrates his apparent wealth and outdoor pursuits), that we were persisting in asking questions and that we knew his full name. While he said we should go ahead and publish whatever we wanted about him and this story, he asked "are you sure about what you're doing" and that he will "see what to do" if we do, in fact, publish the story. He suggested that we "watch out".
The curious thing is that he genuinely doesn't seem to understand that he's done anything wrong. He admits he's taken someone's money but seems to have no sense of obligation or honour. All he can do is make excuses and threats.So, "Bling", are you prepared to do the decent thing and pay your debts? Or are you happy being unreliable, untrustworthy and unpopular?
Or would you prefer to become even more unpopular with the press, the public and the Police?
Update: We've received various messages from our friend "Bling" who yesterday changed his Facebook name to "Mondo Nkubu" subsequent to this post. It went like this:
Mondo Nkubu: If I may tell u damage has already made pple r callin me even lost a customer 2day I told kate tht I shud mit her 2day then she told me she won't manage I shud cum tomorow nw I dn knwUPDATE - Friday 13th (unlucky for some)
Us: Have you thought of fixing the situation by paying a refund?
Mondo Nkubu: Ya I told her my business was goin back to track so I was goin to make arrangements wth her to payback in instalments but nw I dnt knw lyk we had an appointment tomorow nw I will c wth my lawyer to arrnge things for me wth u n the client
Us: So what do you suggest? When can she get her refund?
Mondo Nkubu: Pls i dnt hav tht kind of money at the moment n that lady who reprted the issue I dnt knw her I can only deal wth the ownr but let me talk to my lawyr will get bat to u in the morning
Us: You signed an agreement with [XXX] to deliver a BMW X3 and promised in that agreement that if the vehicle wasn't delivered "in time or to the agreed date" that you "will have to pay back" P120,000. This was witnessed by [XXX]. And you DO have that money, you were paid it for the car. Where is it now?
Our friend "Bling" sent us two text messages explaining his unhappiness.
"Let me deal wth ths dnt push it,i wl handle it um stl arrngn a cuple of things 2 make it happn n pls i ask u nicely stop puttn my name n pictures on media,u r dsturbn my busines hw do i pay back clients if i dnt hv busines,jail tym wont pay clients blv me i thnk u knw beta"He wants us to "stop puttn my name n pictures on media" because it's "dsturbn my busines"?
Tough. He shouldn't have taken at least THREE people's money in exactly the same way.
And then:
"U knw smtyms i text u via facebook u publsh my sms dnt knw if evrytym i talk 2 u u wl do tht,it wl b beta if i dnt talk 2 u again n deal wth clients n th law"So Bling would prefer to deal with "th law" rather than settle his debts like normal people do? That's fine with us.
Should have left his name and a link to his face-book page :)
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