THE MEDIA24 ARTICLES: FABRICATED CONTENT AND PROVEN FALSEHOODS PRESENTED AS FACT
Media24's False and Fabricated Articles
Below are the articles published by Media24. Where a section is highlighted, this indicates t is false or fabricated. As can be seen at a glance, the vast majority of the articles were false and fabricated.
In fact, the only portions of the articles that were not, were names, references to attorneys and some dates. Every statement of "fact" or allegation was entirely untrue.
These articles represent some of the most significant violations of the Press Code in a generation. Yet, we still wait for the Press Council to take up and action the complaint
21 August 2022. Julian Jansen
BRIT STUCK OVER 'CHEAT YOUR RENT,
CHEAT YOU THERE'
A Briton who has allegedly been renting out guesthouses that do not belong to him has finally been arrested where he is hiding in the Upper Cape in one of the rich men’s houses he occupies.
The finely built Darren Russell, who according to photos of him and his boyfriend is only used to the best, appeared rather cool this week when he appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court.
With only a lunchbox with him, he sat in a badly wrinkled shirt on the steps leading to the cells, waiting for the magistrate to make his appearance.
The 52-year-old Briton allegedly rented several multimillion-rand properties along the Atlantic and False Bay coasts and then unlawfully operated them as guest houses by advertising them on websites such as Airbnb.
The claim is that he usually faithfully pays his rent for a few months and then quits.Another alleged ploy was to rent out houses through his private website lacollectionsprestige.com and pocket the deposit or double or even triple book the house, then disappear when the guests arrived.
That way, apparently, he could make thousands a day.
In Llandudno, he rented out a five-bedroom house for R15,000 per room for two nights.
In Llandudno, he rented out a five-bedroom house for R15,000 per room for two nights.
In Hout Bay, he charged R15,000 for two nights, and in Camps Bay, R18,000 for two nights.
In another house in Llandudno, he charged R7,000 a night – and up to R19,000 a night in the Royal Suite.
Some properties he also apparently subleased in the long term, with the owners dying to get rid of the wrongful tenants or get their hands on the slippery Russell.
De Swardt said he and some strong men had gone to empty Broad's house. However, the big break came when he received information that Russell and his boyfriend were in a five-star guesthouse in Pringle Bay.
Once there, he heard that the two had just left in an Uber rental car.
HIGH DRAMA: Police officers try to get Russell out of a double-storey house while his boyfriend screams over and over again.
De Swardt was able to locate the Uber driver and told him that he had dropped them off at a house in Schotsche Gorge on the slopes of Signal Hill.
Eleven policemen pounced on the house, but the two locked the doors.
Fortunately, one of the neighbors remembered that the owner of the house keeps a spare key at his establishment on Loop Street.
That's when the dolls started dancing.
Russell apparently locked himself in a bathroom.
As police systematically searched the house, the bystanders – quite a few curious people had already started congregating on August Street – only heard the screams of his boyfriend Lorez de Rodez Benavent as he yelled at the police.
De Swardt said he was investigating four cases against Russell, but that there were about 18 people who passed through.
Some owners reportedly suffered up to R300,000 in damage.
Among the houses he apparently unlawfully rented out are a R200 million residence of a billionaire from Dubai and a R30 million house in Llandudno.
When Rapport called at one of the properties in Llandudno, a friendly American opened the door, telling him that he had rented the house for five days.
However, he was displeased with a few things – including the nude portraits on the walls that he asked to be removed, but this was never done.
During his court appearance this week, Adv. Lee Gabriel and two attorneys from the law firm Abrahams & Gross tried hard to secure bail for Russell, who has been sitting in Pollsmoor for more than three weeks now.
Gabriel argued that the charges against his client were of a civil nature and that it was wrong to charge him criminally.
He says Russell is not a flight risk and that he does not have a valid passport at this time.
He is apparently in the process of renewing his passport.
Sgt. Muyiselo Duna, the investigating officer, testified that he believed Russell was in the country illegally.
Duna says that while Russell was renting the house from Broad, items worth R836,000 were stolen.
This case looks like a wasp's nest to me, the magistrate replied before adjourning the bail application until Monday.
In the dock, Russell clutched his head and sighed no.
Media24’s False and Fabricated Articles vs the Facts and the Truth
MEDIA24
FALSE:
INGE BROAD: "Inge (surname withheld) told News24 it was heartbreaking and frustrating to see what was done to her and her husband’s luxury property on the Atlantic seaboard."
TRUE:
They called it “heartbreaking.” But what’s truly heartbreaking is being stripped of your freedom, denied bail, and blocked from accessing your own home by the very people who stole it.
Heartbreaking is living in fear your cancer will kill you before you see your mother again. Heartbreaking is clawing through two years of lies, theft, and silence—only to see the criminals walk free, posing for media interviews, while the real victim is left fighting for justice with nothing but mouldy clothes and a debt to his mother.
That’s not their heartbreak. That’s mine.
[23-08-22]
Media24’s False and Fabricated Articles vs the Facts and the Truth
MEDIA24
FALSE:
"It is estimated that the British national made up to R34 million while committing this fraud, according to News24.”
TRUE:
This figure is pure fiction. No official body, financial institution, police docket, or court ever cited such an amount. It originated solely from WdS and was printed by News24 without a shred of evidence. If R34 million had actually been defrauded—requiring thousands of victims—there would be a paper trail, complaints, platform bans, or at the very least, an online footprint.
Yet there is nothing. No police statements from guests. No charge sheets referencing it. No bank alerts. No civil litigation. Nothing. The platforms remained active, the reviews were overwhelmingly positive, and no guest has ever made such a claim. The number was invented to create a media spectacle and repeated to bolster a criminal narrative that never existed.
23 August 2022. Ane Van Zyl
BRITON WHO ALLEGEDLY DEFRAUDED PEOPLE WITH ACCOMMODATION, GETS BAIL
A British man who allegedly defrauded members of the public and tourists out of thousands of rands and damaged property was released on bail of R30,000 on Tuesday.
Darren Russell’s (52) bail application was completed on Monday in the magistrate's court in Wynberg, and he was released on bail on Tuesday.
Russell is accused of renting and subletting at least four luxury homes in Hout Bay, Camps Bay, and Llandudno without permission.He allegedly rented out the same place to two or three people at a time.And disappeared without a trace after being paid thousands of rands.
He also allegedly carried out illegal construction work on the houses by breaking and building walls, changing kitchens, and laying floors without the permission of the owners.
He is charged with burglary, theft, and malicious damage to property, as well as being in the country illegally because his visa has expired.
Wouter de Swardt of Fox Forensics, who investigated Russell at the behest of a homeowner, says that around 20 people were apparently approached, of whom 15 filed complaints.
In some of the incidents, according to De Swardt, the complainant Russell apparently paid as much as R19,000 per night for the Royal Suite in a house in Llandudno.
Russell was arrested on August 4 in the Upper Cape after apparently locking himself in a bathroom.
He spent two-and-a-half weeks in Pollsmoor Prison, and his bail application began on Thursday.
Russell's legal representatives, Heynes Kotze and Juan Smuts, told Netwerk24 on Tuesday that Russell will plead not guilty to the charges against him. According to Kotze, one of his bail conditions is that he must stay at a property he rents in Llandudno and must not make contact with the state witnesses.
He is due to appear again in the magistrate's court on September 22.
An eviction order will be heard in the High Court in Cape Town on Monday and a second eviction order on a date that has not yet been announced.
Media24’s False and Fabricated Articles vs the Facts and the Truth
MEDIA24
FALSE:
INGE BROAD: “That was despite the damage caused to the property.”
TRUE:
They wanted the transformation. They needed the transformation. They got a transformation. They profited from the transformation......
....Then they called it “damage.”
This wasn’t a genuine lament —it was cover for a scam. Media24 didn’t question a word of it.
17 December 2022. Maygene De Wee.
BRIT ARRESTED AGAIN AFTER BAIL OF R30,000
FOR THE SAME RENTAL SCAM
A British citizen who was arrested for fraud on 4 August this year and released shortly after on bail of R30,000 was arrested again on Wednesday on similar charges.
Detectives attached to the police's provincial commercial crime investigation unit arrested Darren Russell (52) this time at one of the luxury houses in Llandudno that he rents and then apparently sublets.
Darren Russell (52) was arrested by the police at a house in Llandudno on Wednesday after he apparently continued his ploy to rent houses and then sublet them.
After he was released on bail in Wynberg Magistrates' Court on August 23, Russell is said to have continued to rent luxury homes in Cape Town's posh neighborhoods such as Camps Bay, Llandudno, and Hout Bay.
From their rightful owners and then sublet them to other people, without the rightful owner's knowledge or consent.
Col. Andrè Traut, police spokesman, confirmed on Friday that a 52-year-old British man had been arrested for fraud.
Traut says the man was arrested at a house in Llandudno.
According to Traut, the police seized documents and computer equipment.
According to him, the man's arrest is related to the fraudulent letting of property in the Cape Town area.He will appear in the Magistrate's Court in Wynberg on Monday, says Traut.
The complaint against Russell is new and Traut asked that people who may have also been defrauded by Russell call Col. Kallie Lourens, the investigating officer, on 082 522 2786.
The private detective Wouter de Swardt from Fox Forensics said on Friday that there are now four or five new complaints against Russell.
According to De Swardt, his modus operandi is the same as in the previous cases.
He rents rich men's houses along Cape Town's Atlantic and False Bay coasts.
He would live in the properties for a month or two and pay his rent and then stop paying.
In the meantime, he then advertises the luxury homes on websites such as Airbnb and Booking.com.
Russell has also rented out some of the houses on his private website - lacollectionsprestige.com.
On the web page there are five luxury mansions with sea views listed. The price for one of the properties - Hove Heaven - is listed between R25,000 and R27,000 per day for the entire property. This will then include the main house and the pool villa. Darren Russell has also listed this luxury home on his lacollectionsprestige.com. Photo: lacollectionsprestige.com.
Apparently, Russell also double-rented some of the properties he rented - or as De Swardt says - even triple-rented.
Whoever gets there first gets the keys. The other tenants' money was put in his pocket, and it's thousands of rands.
If the people demand their money back, he says they should take him to court.
He knows it will cost the people thousands of rands and then they leave it instead.
Russell was first arrested on 4 August at a house in the Upper Cape.
He then appeared in the Magistrate's Court in Wynberg on charges of fraud, burglary, theft, and malicious damage to property, as well as being in the country illegally because his visa had expired.
It now appears that the property scam started as early as 2012.
In a report on the website of The Evening Standard, a British publication, it was alleged in April 2012 that he had not paid deposits from tenants to the landlords, on whose behalf he acted.
He is believed to have used the money to strengthen his own property portfolio and finance his luxurious life.
Media24’s False and Fabricated Articles vs the Facts and the Truth
MEDIA24
FALSE:
“He rents rich man's houses along Cape Town's Atlantic and False Bay coasts. He would live in the properties for a month or two and pay his rent and then stop paying. In the meantime, he then advertises the luxury homes on websites such as Airbnb and Booking.com.”
TRUE:
The claim is entirely false and falls apart under basic scrutiny. The leases were legitimate, honored, and fully documented. If I had stopped paying after a month or two, the total cost would have been 200K–600K. Instead, I paid nearly R5 million in rent, over R6.5 million when including bills and housekeeper salaries, and invested more than R8 million in property upgrades. This is not the behavior of someone attempting to "scam" free accommodation—it reflects a tenant operating a high-end guest business with full landlord approval.
The allegation collapses with a simple question: why spend R6 million on rent, R2 million on salaries, R8 million on refurbishments, and R1.5 million on legal fees for non-functional properties? Why invest R500,000 in platform fees, repairs, and management costs to run a supposed scam? If the claim were true, Airbnb or Booking.com complaints would exist—but none do. At the article's publication, our Booking.com profile remained active and accredited.
The journalist never contacted me, verified financial figures, or investigated why, if I were defrauding owners, I would pay millions, hold five-year leases, and operate transparently with landlords. This narrative is pure fiction, perpetuated by WdS and published without a single verification.
[17-12-22]
Media24’s False and Fabricated Articles vs the Facts and the Truth
MEDIA24
FALSE:
“When owner Keith Broad asked private investigator WdS of Fox Forensics to get rid of the tenants, the tide began to turn against Russell.”
TRUE:
This quote admits to a criminal conspiracy—yet Media24 presented it as if it were lawful or even admirable. No lawful landlord hires a private investigator to “get rid of” tenants. The legal route is clear: apply for an eviction order. Keith Broad never did—because he had no grounds. Instead, he sent WdS and eight thugs to violently seize the property, eject the occupants, and change the locks. No court order. No sheriff. No legal basis. This was an unlawful eviction carried out by brute force. And yet Media24 published it without question—as though such conduct was routine or justified.
14 Janaury 2023. Carin Smith
SECOND ARREST FOR CAPE TOWN LUXURY ACCOMMODATION 'SCAMMER' SUSPECTED OF POCKETING MILLIONS.
Darren Russell, a British citizen who came to South Africa on a visitor’s visa in 2020, has been arrested on charges of fraud relating to the subletting of luxury properties along Cape Town's Atlantic Seaboard.
Russell allegedly rented properties from the owners and then advertised the properties on global platforms, sometimes making double or even quadruple bookings for the same dates.
A local lawyer and private investigator, representing some of the victims, say there is a coordinated joint effort with the provincial commercial crimes unit to investigate.
An alleged luxury accommodation scammer, who is suspected of making up to an estimated R34 million during the last two years.
By defrauding luxury property owners along Cape Town's Atlantic Seaboard, as well as unsuspecting tourists, has been arrested on charges of fraud for a second time.
Darren Russell, a British citizen who arrived in South Africa in December 2020 on a visitor's visa, remains in custody until a bail hearing in early February.
Darren Russell, a British citizen who came to South Africa on a visitor’s visa in 2020, has been arrested on charges of fraud relating to the subletting of luxury properties along Cape Town's Atlantic Seaboard.
Russell allegedly rented properties from the owners and then advertised the properties on global platforms, sometimes making double or even quadruple bookings for the same dates.
A local lawyer and private investigator, representing some of the victims, say there is a coordinated joint effort with the provincial commercial crimes unit to investigate.
An alleged luxury accommodation scammer, who is suspected of making up to an estimated R34 million during the last two years.
By defrauding luxury property owners along Cape Town's Atlantic Seaboard, as well as unsuspecting tourists, has been arrested on charges of fraud for a second time.
Darren Russell, a British citizen who arrived in South Africa in December 2020 on a visitor's visa, remains in custody until a bail hearing in early February.
He was first arrested in about mid-2022 and released on bail. He has now been arrested on more fraud charges as more victims have come to the fore.
Johan Victor, the legal representative of some of the victims, and Wouter de Swardt, a private investigator, are coordinating the various claims and suspect there might be even more victims they do not know of yet.
Currently, there are six criminal and six civil charges against Russell.
Russell's attorney, Theodore Swartz, told News24 on Friday that he does not have any comment at this stage.
Multiple bookings.
According to Victor and De Swardt, Russell's modus operandi was to let luxury accommodation - usually worth between R40 million and R110 million.
He paid the rent three months in advance for a property in Camps Bay at R90,000 per month and also ended up renting a property in Hout Bay and two in Llandudno. For one of the properties, he paid a total of R1.2 million rent in advance for a lease of 12 months.
These advance payments usually put the owners and their agents at ease. He then set about advertising the properties on platforms like Booking.com, Airbnb, sometimes making double, triple, or even quadruple bookings for the exact dates.
It seems he sometimes uses various aliases or variations on his name.
Visitors started arriving only to find other people already in the properties.
Since his second arrest on December 9, families who booked and paid via his adverts arrived for what they thought was their luxury summer holiday. They were from as far as Canada, Sweden, Germany, and Dubai, according to De Swardt.
One family from Canada paid R378,000 in advance for eight days only to arrive to find a double booking.
Those who managed to track him down and confront him about what he was doing were told to take me to court.
Owners' struggles.
The Prevention of Illegal Eviction from an Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE) provides procedures for the eviction of occupants and prohibits unlawful evictions. When owners tried to evict him, he simply claimed the property was his residence and then the owners had to turn to the courts – a long and expensive procedure.
Inge (surname withheld) told News24 it was heartbreaking and frustrating to see what was done to her and her husband’s luxury property on the Atlantic seaboard.
She alleged the couple were almost financially ruined due to Russell not having paid rent or utilities for about a year.
I thought we followed all the right procedures when we let the property to him.
We did it through a reputable agent and paid them for a background check. I met Mr. Russell briefly, and he was very charming and friendly, and the agent thought he was wonderful, said Inge.
In due course, they became aware of the short-term letting scheme.
No matter what we tried to get him out legally, the odds seemed always to be stacked in his favor.
That was despite the damage caused to the property.
A wall leading to the storage areas was broken through and some of our private possessions were removed.
The flooring was changed, and the furniture reupholstered.
The walls were spray-painted. The house was filthy.
The laws are really not fair towards property owners, she told News24.
The pumps of the Jacuzzis burnt out, the inverter was not working, the steam bath was not working, and neither was the sauna, she added.
It is costing us a fortune to repair the damage to our property, which was supposed to provide us with an income.
We tried blocking his adverts each time we saw any, but he kept creating new ones, said Inge.
According to Inge, after Russell was finally out of the house, she was there one day, cleaning up, when a family of twelve people arrived from overseas for a wedding in Cape Town.
Inge told News24 they had fallen for one of the fraud adverts and paid in advance.
They were even told the property was wheelchair friendly as they had an octogenarian coming along when the property is not suited for that, Inge said, adding that the family was shocked when they realized they had been defrauded.
According to Inge, she managed to find them alternative accommodation at short notice.
The owner of the luxury property in Hout Bay was retired but due to the financial loss caused by Russell not paying, he had to go back to work.
Vigilance.
The rental agent for a luxury villa in Llandudno, who requested to remain anonymous but whose identity is known to News24, said he believed he avoided falling victim.
He relates that he encountered Russell but insisted on being paid upfront in full. When he was made aware of Russell's alleged schemes, the latter’s lease was up, and he got him to leave.
We have to ensure that he does not get out on bail again, says Victor. Victims who want to join the coordinated process are welcome to contact De Swardt or me at johan@jvaa.co.za or wouter@foxforensics.co.za.
De Swardt describes Russell as very intelligent and very charming.
It seems he thought he was untouchable.
We estimate that he had an income of about R34 million during the past two years, says De Swardt.
In my view, if I did not track him down and find evidence against him, he would still be continuing with his scams even now.
Media24’s False and Fabricated Articles vs the Facts and the Truth
MEDIA24
FALSE:
"We did it through a reputable agent and paid them for a background check."
TRUE:
Anton Moller, the agent they reference, provided a sworn affidavit directly contradicting their claims. Despite this, the journalist never contacted him—an inexcusable omission that would have exposed the truth instantly.
02 February 2023. Maygene De Wee
CASE ADJOURNED AGAINST BRIT WHO RENTS
AND RE LETS HOUSES
A British pier fan who is accused of defrauding the owners of luxury mansions on, among others, Cape Town's Atlantic coast out of millions of rands, apparently had not yet given financial instructions to his lawyer when he appeared in the Magistrate's Court in Wynberg on Thursday.
Darren Russell (52) appeared in court on Thursday on charges of fraud. The state claims he defrauded the owner of a luxury house in Llandudno out of around R1.2 million.
Russell was arrested at the mansion in Llandudno in December last year by members of the police's provincial commercial crime investigation unit.
The state claims he rented several luxury homes and then rented out the homes in residential neighborhoods such as Camps Bay, Llandudno, and Hout Bay to other people without the rightful owner's knowledge or consent.
The court heard on Thursday that Russell, who has been held in Pollsmoor Prison since his arrest, has not yet given any financial instructions to his solicitor.
A lawyer representing Russell's lawyer, one T. Swartz, asked the court for an adjournment until March 7.
The stand-in attorney said Swartz had not yet received financial instructions from Russell.
Swartz would apparently use the time to properly consult with Russell.
Magistrate Goolam Bawa told the stand-in lawyer that if the case is adjourned until March, it will be almost two and a half months that Russell will be in custody. He cannot allow it.
Bail applications must be treated as urgent, said Bawa.
The lawyer came back after a short adjournment and asked the court to adjourn the case until February 7. Russell and Swartz must then tell the court whether Swartz is going to stay, Russell is going to appoint a new legal representative, or whether he is going to use legal aid.
This is not the only charge of this kind that Russell faces. He was also arrested on a similar charge in Cape Town on 4 August last year and released shortly afterwards on bail of R30,000.
After he was released on bail on 23 August, he reportedly continued to rent luxury homes in Cape Town's posh residential areas such as Camps Bay, Llandudno, and Hout Bay.
And then sublet them to other people without the rightful owner's knowledge or consent.
Media24’s False and Fabricated Articles vs the Facts and the Truth
MEDIA24
FALSE:
"I met Mr. Russell briefly, and he was very charming and friendly, and the agent thought he was wonderful," said Inge.
TRUE:
The agent wasn’t an independent third party—she was Keith Broad’s cousin, Gail Broad. This wasn’t a neutral introduction; it was a direct family referral. The journalist’s failure to disclose this key relationship created a false impression of impartial endorsement and violated the most basic principles of transparency and truthfulness.
Gail’s praise wasn’t random—it was based on fact. She’d toured my Camps Bay property, where I’d funded two new kitchens, full landscaping, and an interior transformation to create a luxury rental. She openly admired the standard and recommended me to Keith and Inge for that exact reason.
That property—and her glowing feedback—was the bait. What followed was a calculated setup. They used Gail’s family connection to gain my trust, used her praise to justify the deal, and then used her name again—stripped of context—to legitimise their post-fact smear.
They knew exactly what they were doing. So did the journalist who left all of that out. This wasn’t honest reporting. It was sanitised misdirection.
[02-02-23]
Media24’s False and Fabricated Articles vs the Facts and the Truth
MEDIA24
FALSE:
"Inge (surname withheld) told News24 it was heartbreaking and frustrating to see what was done to her and her husband’s luxury property on the Atlantic seaboard."
TRUE:
They called it “heartbreaking.” But what’s truly heartbreaking is being stripped of your freedom, denied bail, and blocked from accessing your own home by the very people who stole it. Heartbreaking is living in fear cancer will kill your mother before you see her again. Heartbreaking is clawing through two years of lies, theft, and cover-ups —only to see the criminals walk free, posing for media interviews, while the real victim is left fighting for justice with nothing but mouldy clothes and a debt to his mother.
16 Janaury 2023. Vernon Pillay
I ALMOST GOT SCAMMED BY DARREN RUSSELL – THE ALLEGED CAPE TOWN AIRBNB SWINDLER
I almost got scammed by Darren Russell – the alleged Cape Town Airbnb swindler
It is not everyday that you wake up to the news that you could have been scammed and by the grace of God or some miracle, you escaped losing thousands of rand.
That is what happened to me this morning. I don’t think I am immune to scamming or phishing but given that I work for a business site and have over 10 years’ experience, I think I can spot a distrustful person or when something is too good to be true.
However, this was not the case with regard to alleged property scammer Darren Russel. I had contacted him on Airbnb in August, 2021 to stay at a luxury villa he was managing, for one night with a few of my mates. I was hosting my best friend’s bachelorette party and wanted to go all out.
I wish I could say that I spotted something fishy about Russel, if that is his real name.
But, alas, I did not. Despite doing stories on this very topic I failed to see that Russel was most probably trying to scam me out of about R10 000.
That was the price (give or take) for the night at the breathtaking venue “Hove Heaven”, that he was advertising on Airbnb.
When I went back to Airbnb to look at our messages, I was shocked to see that his messages were blocked with this message by Airbnb: “This message has been hidden because the person no longer has access to Airbnb.”
What I can see is that there were major red flags even from my messages. The most jarring was that there was an issue while I was booking the venue with Airbnb. I saw that when I was doing the booking, he had sent me a link to book via Instagram.
That link had also failed and I had started to deal with him via WhatsApp to book the venue.
On reflection I can’t believe that I was even entertaining this booking process. It is not lost on me that I was making some silly errors in evaluating this booking process.
I ask myself why, why would I let myself potentially be bamboozled by such an obvious scam.
The only answer I can think of is that Russel seemed legitimate, he was also quick to answer and was so accommodating to my needs and requirements. Organising a party during Covid and the subsequent government requirements was not easy, and Russel understood that.
He also was offering the villa at such a great discount according to him, that I felt I was scoring or making a huge saving.
Looking back it was clearly too good to be true and I just thank the universe that I booked with a different host.
WHO IS DARREN RUSSEL?
Well it seems that Russel has been doing this very con with numerous victims over a few years in Cape Town, and has finally been arrested.
Russel has been accused of defrauding luxury property owners and tourists on the Atlantic Seaboard for at least two years.
It is estimated that the British national made up to R34 million while committing this fraud, according to News24.
It should be noted that Russel has been arrested twice, his first arrest was in 2022 and his second was last week, as more and more victims were coming forward.
Russell faces six criminal and six civil charges.
A PETITION
According to a Change.org petition entitled, “Let’s STOP Darren Russell de Rodez aka La Collection The Holiday SCAMMER”, Russel has a simple modus operandi.
Mario Boffa, the person who started the petition said Russel “takes bookings for properties in Cape Town and then when clients want to take occupation, he doesn’t open up or has double-booked them”.
Boffa writes that “he runs property listings of properties he does not own nor does he have legal agreements to let them on duplicated platforms, using multiple profiles.
Here are a list of the platforms he used:
Airbnb
Your.Rentals
Booking.com
Agoda
Expedia
VRBO
In my interaction with Russel, he was advertising a villa called “Hove Heaven” on Airbnb.
We thank the services of Private Investigations company - Ensure Secure Services for prompt and thorough investigation that lead to the arrest of this British Criminal.
Media24’s False and Fabricated Articles vs the Facts and the Truth
MEDIA24
FALSE:
"Inge (surname withheld) told News24 it was heartbreaking and frustrating to see what was done to her and her husband’s luxury property on the Atlantic seaboard."
TRUE:
They called it “heartbreaking.” But what’s truly heartbreaking is being stripped of your freedom, denied bail, and blocked from accessing your own home by the very people who stole it. Heartbreaking is living in fear cancer will kill your mother before you see her again. Heartbreaking is clawing through two years of lies, theft, and cover-ups —only to see the criminals walk free, posing for media interviews, while the real victim is left fighting for justice with nothing but mouldy clothes and a debt to his mother.
"The media shapes perceptions not by what it reports, but by what it chooses not to report.” - Edward R. Murrow