Police have released chilling new details about the woman dubbed Malawi's answer to South Africa's notorious fugitive Thabo Bester, after she faked her own death in a bid to escape paying back loans she had obtained through fraud.
Rhita Mkandawire, whose photographs circulated widely on social media alongside false claims she had been brutally murdered by unknown assailants, is now expected to face fraud charges after police allegedly caught her with three smartphones and five SIM cards believed to have been used to con members of the public.
Northern Region Police spokesperson Cecilia Mfune revealed the shocking scale of the elaborate scam, saying investigations uncovered that Mkandawire had created a fake Facebook account under the name Blessings Chimwanza, posing as a pastor to milk large sums of money out of unsuspecting followers online.
"She was also using one of the phone numbers while pretending to be the pastor's secretary, but our investigations have established that she was operating all the phone numbers herself," Mfune revealed, exposing how Mkandawire had been running the entire con single-handedly behind multiple fake personas.
Police have since arrested three additional suspects linked to the case for allegedly providing false information to officers, as the investigation into the sprawling fraud network continues to widen.
Authorities have now issued an urgent plea to the public, urging Malawians to verify information with police before sharing unconfirmed claims on social media — a warning that comes directly in response to the chaos sparked by false reports of Mkandawire's death.
Mkandawire was finally tracked down and picked up by police last night in Karonga, bringing an abrupt end to the elaborate deception that had convinced many across the country she was dead.
