American skateboarder Jason Vanporppal, who recently completed a 5,900km skateboarding journey from Uganda to Cape Town to raise funds for Uganda's first public skatepark, says he has been scammed out of R25,000 intended for the project.
In a video he shared on social media, Vanporppal alleged that a woman who had volunteered to help secure sponsorships for the fundraising campaign kept the money after receiving payment from a brand partnership.
According to Vanporppal, the sponsorship was worth R25,000, which he said was intended to be donated to the GoFundMe campaign supporting the construction of a skatepark for disadvantaged children in Uganda.
Vanporppal said the woman acted as an intermediary between him and the sponsoring company.
"I trusted her with my heart. I trusted her with everything," he said in the video.
He stressed that the allegations were unrelated to the sponsoring company or to the people and organisations that had supported his Africa journey, including Lisa and the Winnie Babaso Foundation.
"This has nothing to do with Lisa or the Winnie Babaso Foundation. They're very much loved in my heart still," he said.
According to Vanporppal, he agreed that the sponsor could transfer the funds to the woman, believing she would then send the money to him so it could be added to the fundraising campaign.
He alleged that after receiving the payment, the woman repeatedly delayed transferring the money, citing various reasons, including illness and the theft of her phone.
Vanporppal said he initially believed the explanations because he trusted the woman and thought she was genuinely trying to help the cause.
He said the experience had left him questioning why he had placed so much trust in someone he had never met."She just seemed like she cared," he said.
Vanporppal added that the woman had approached several potential sponsors on behalf of the campaign and had spoken about securing partnerships with major brands to raise more money for the children.
In the video, he gave the woman 24 hours to return the R25,000, warning that he would publicly identify her if she failed to do so.
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