The investor of the flopped Burna Boy Joburg concert, Gregory Wings, is in hot soup after the First National Bank froze his accounts.
Wings, an American businessman in real estate, opened a case of fraud against his business partner Sedote Nwachukwu in September. Wings is said to have been scammed a sum of R9.1-million by his business partner who fled the country in September.
US-born Nwachukwu left the country immediately after Wings opened a case with the Santon police.
According to a source who cannot be revealed Nwachukwu and Wings have known each other for 15 years but only became close in the last five years. Wings was approached by Nwachukwu for funding the Burna Boy concert which was set to take place in September at the FNB Stadium.
Nwachukwu has denied the allegations, accusing Wings of stealing money from the concert. He says he was removed as CEO of Ternary Media Group after he refused to go along with Wings’ fraudulent plans.
Ticketpro, the company that sold tickets for the concert, says it is working on a plan to refund customers.
Burna Boy was scheduled to perform at FNB Stadium on Saturday, but the concert was postponed due to the fraud allegations. It is unclear when the concert will now take place.
Nwachukwu’s business partner, Gregory Wings, has opened a fraud case against him at the Sandton police station. Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Brig Brenda Moridili confirmed that a case is under investigation.
Thousands of tickets had been sold for the concert, but it is unclear if concertgoers will be refunded.
“Gregory gave Sedote the necessary money and the agreement was that they would split the percentage and he would only be a shareholder in the concert as the funder. Thirty days before the concert, Gregory found out that Sedote had been stealing money from the ticket sales by Ticketpro. He had also not played suppliers and everything was not going according to plan,” said the source.
When Wings discovered that suppliers had not been paid, he tried to pay some but it did not work out because the damage was too deep, leading to the concert being cancelled. Wings is said to have also lost $1.6 million.
The source continued: “With Gregory being in the paperwork which turned out to be fraudulent he took the fall for everything that Sedote had done. He was then arrested for fraud in October and detained at Sun City (Johannesburg Prison) for seven days.”
The scandal has overshadowed Burna Boy’s reputation in South Africa. The Nigerian singer is a popular performer in the country, but many fans are now questioning his judgment in associating with Nwachukwu.
Whether Burna Boy can salvage his reputation in South Africa remains to be seen. Fans and industry insiders alike will closely watch the outcome of the fraud investigation.
Discover more from KossyDerrickent
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
