Boity Thulo’s “boyfriend” Stanley Obiamalu was arrested by the police Saturday morning for allegedly defrauding the taxman of at least R7.8-million.
Obiamalu was detained at the Johannesburg Central Prison and was expected to appear in the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court today.
A police offcer, who did not want to be named because he is not allowed to speak to the media, said members of crime intelligence pounced on Obiamalu when he was leaving his Sandton nightclub, Black Door, at about 5am.
The cop said Obiamalu, who was clad in a black T-shirt, black jeans and black boots, was walking to his black Mercedes-Benz
G-Wagon Bra Bass with four women and his brother when the cops arrested him.
The G-Wagon Bra Bass is estimated to cost over R3-million and is only available on pre-order.
The cops then escorted him to his Waterfall house where they searched it for further evidence but found nothing.
Obiamalu was then bundled into a police vehicle and driven to Johannesburg Central Prison where he was detained.
Although Thulo and Obiamalu did not offcially admit to a love relationship, news of their relationship was reported in various publications.
Daily Sun and Sowetan published a story with the headline “Meet Boity’s new Man” last year, in which it alleged the two went on a vacation to an unnamed Island.
The paper also reported that the two were seen together at the launch of Thulo’s Impulse fragrance.
News website All 4 Women published a story early this year alleging that the two’s relationship was on shaky ground because of cheating allegations.
Approached for comment, Thulo said: “He is not my boyfriend, I don’t have a comment.”
According to the cop, Obiamalu, a Nigerian and filmmaker, was fingered as the mastermind behind the multimillion-rand fraud by his fellow countryman Olatunji Samson Abdul, who was also arrested by the police early this year.
It is alleged Abdul told the police that he had submitted fraudulent tax returns, which netted him a lot of money.
The money was transferred from SARS’s coffers into Abdul’s account, who then allegedly wired it into Obiamalu’s.
“In the initial phase of the investigation, the police confiscated his other Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon pending the outcome of the investigation but did not arrest him. But when new information was received, it was decided that he should be arrested,” said the cop.
Gauteng police spokesman Mavela Masondo confirmed the arrest and said the case was referred to the Hawks for further investigation.
By Ngwako Malatji
ngwakom@sundayworld.coza