Betrayed & threatened – “Goodbye Germany” star wants to offer help instead of revenge

He was tall, charming and full of joie de vivre – when “Goodbye Germany” emigrant Nina Ofenloch (37) met the local Masai Benjamin in Zanzibar, she was quickly thrilled. Not only did they spend their free time together, but he also helped her renovate the guesthouse, which she opened a few months later alongside her career as a business and life coach.

“Goodbye Germany” star Nina Ofenloch was stolen from by her boyfriend

But then the shock: Nina discovered that her boyfriend had stolen from her and put the money intended for the construction work into his own pocket! A breach of trust that heralded the end of their relationship and ultimately led to their separation.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a peaceful one: Even after that, he didn’t give the lawyer a rest, harassed and threatened her and even beat up her security guard! He also wanted to sue them and suddenly demanded $20,000 (around 20,400 euros) for his work on the guesthouse renovation. A utopian sum, as Nina made clear: “Not even the chief architect gets that much money.”

Emigrant finds an ally in fellow sufferer

Little by little, Nina learned that many European women on the island had had similar experiences to hers. Among the affected women she met was the emigrant Levke Kersting (41), also known from “Goodbye Germany”. Her heart had been broken twice by locals and she had even been beaten by her ex.

The new friends found other lovescamming victims on social media. These women published names and photos of the fraudsters in a group, and Nina’s ex Benjamin was also among them. But Nina’s attempt to persuade those affected to take joint action failed due to their shyness. Would an online petition where the women could remain anonymous possibly help? With this, she hoped, she could reinforce her desire to do something about romance fraud with the government and/or the tourism minister.

The fact that those deceived were not just “stupid”, as many outsiders believed, was also made clear by a victim who met Nina in front of the camera, although the woman’s face was not shown. The “Beach Boys” from Zanzibar are “perfect actors,” she explained. Simply master of psychological manipulation. She lost 6,000 euros to her ex-boyfriend, but the emotional damage was even worse. “If you disappoint people who have so much trust in other people, I could imagine that these women will no longer approach other people so openly,” Nina believed.

Help instead of revenge: Nina stands up for Masai

Of course, the Maasai are “not all evil,” she emphasized. Not even the fraudsters among them, because they often simply lacked perspective on how they could earn money in other, more honest ways. A thought that apparently never left the solution-oriented emigrant’s mind.

Because when VOX visited her again three months later, her fight against love scamming had taken on a completely new form. Her idea: sponsor education! She wanted to find Europeans who would finance training for the Maasai on Zanzibar to become taxi drivers or tour guides, for example, “so that we can take a preventive approach and perhaps reduce this history of prostitution in the future.”

The idea was well received by the Maasai: at the first major meeting, Nina collected 102 signatures from interested young men. And there were more and more of them. They were “happy and grateful” for the opportunity, explained Maasai spokesman Lengai Papaa Lemareka at another meeting, where Nina was able to secure a driving license for the first applicant. More should follow.

Nina heard nothing more from her ex, but her vision had only just begun to blossom. And that put a big smile on her face: “That’s how change begins, right?”