A Kenyan serial online dater has allegedly conned
unsuspecting foreign women of their millions. One of them, a retired British
teacher later discovered that the man had been dating another 47 soul mates.
A retired British teacher is
distressed after using Sh4 million of her life savings on her Kenyan lover only
to discover that he is a serial online dater with another 47 soul mates.
According to the Daily
Mail, 61-year-old Judith Stillwell, who lives in
Ashington, West Sussex is among many victims of the Kenyan ‘soul mate’ who
prowls on hapless women across the globe who are desperate for love.
Ms Stillwell said she met the Kenyan
man on an online dating site and after a string of romantic ‘inboxing’ that saw
her send him money to meet his expenses and before long they had a romantic
relationship.
The divorced parish councillor said
the Kenyan, a Mr Elias, told her he lived in London and after a series of
online and over-the-phone conversations, their meeting led to a three-year
‘courtship’ romance that saw Mr Elias move into Mrs Stillwell’s home.
Mrs Stillwell said her man claimed
to be a retired accountant who first moved to UK as a student 20 years ago and
was in the process of buying property in Dubai.
She said that their trust and love
grew, leading to a sumptuous ‘memorable’ wedding at Brighton in August 2012
that also saw Mrs Stillwell change her name to Mrs Elias.
“After our wedding I funded our
visit to Kenya to meet Elias’ parents to receive their blessings.
“I was so moved by the dilapidated
state of his father’s house that I funded its refurbishment, during which water
and electric showers were connected,” she recalled.
TRIP TO DUBAI
But Elias’ can of lies blew off when
Mrs Stillwell paid for his alleged trip to Dubai for a business trip that saw
her also part with Sh 1.6 million but was surprised to discover that the online
Dubai ticket had been altered and he instead flew to Australia.
“Mr Elias, who claimed to be 62, had
other online accounts where he introduced himself to other women as Steve and
that he was a 47-year-old man.
“I believed he was flying to Dubai
to do property deals but I have discovered he was actually flying all over the
world meeting other women who funded his lifestyle, just like me,” she said.
The mother of two said last
February, Mr Elias also left for Dubai and returned only to claim his property
deal did not go through since there was a legal hitch that required funding.
This meant her giving him more money
‘to spend on other hapless women across the globe’.
Mrs Stillwell said she received a
message from a woman in Australia who informed her that Mr Elias forgot to sign
out his mail and that is when she discovered she was also being duped.
“Mr Elias had 47 women, including
us, dotted around the world.
“Some are in America, Philippines,
UK and other places. Apparently he met all of us on dating websites and using
the story about a property in Dubai, got us to pay his air fares all around the
world,” she observed.
She reported to the police but was
informed there was nothing they could do as Mr Elias did not commit any offence
as all he did was consensual.
Upon his return to West Sussex, Mrs
Stillwell told him their relationship was over and that he must leave. By JAMES KARIUKI
