Cops: ‘Real Housewives’ Couple Scammed Boca Raton Publix Store for Months

Petrus Viljoen, 57, and his wife Melany Viljoen, 39. (Photos: Palm Beach County Jail)

Boca Raton police this week charged a couple who have appeared on a “Real Housewives” reality show spinoff with coordinated-aggravated retail theft after they allegedly worked together to scam a local Publix supermarket out of thousands of dollars.

Petrus “Peet” Viljoen, 57, and his wife Melany Viljoen, 39, both of whom have appeared on the “Real Housewives of Pretoria” (South Africa) program and “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: South Africa,” remained behind bars Wednesday following their arrest on Tuesday. According to court filings, both of the suspects are South African nationals, but had been residing at a local address on Banyan Road in the barrier island portion of Boca Raton before their arrest.

The case against the Viljoens centers around their activity over a period of about six months at the Publix supermarket at 1001 S. Federal Highway, near the intersection with Camino Real. A police report accuses the pair of working together to steal from the store, including utilizing a “ticket switching” scam wherein labels of cheap items are applied to more expensive items so the suspect can pocket the difference. The couple had been tracked by store security allegedly engaging in various theft incidents since Aug. 29, 2025. The allegedly scam by the Viljoens was initially detected by Publix data analysts after transactions of seasonings were flagged by a proprietary anti-theft system. Security camera footage submitted to police showed the couple posing as customers and placing seasoning packets under more expensive items at the store’s self-checkout lane. The packets were scanned where the barcodes of the more expensive items would have been placed, store staff said.

Investigators compared combinations of debit and credit cards with the transactions, then linked them to security footage in which the couple would allegedly leave the parking lot in the same 2016 Range Rover SUV after each incident. As part of the investigation, store personnel and detectives identified 52 transactions that led to the alleged theft of 392 assorted items. The total value of the stolen items was determined at the time to be $4,954, however that figure would increase with future alleged incidents.

On another occasion, in February, police accuse the couple of simple shoplifting from the same store after their credit card would not process the sale of a pack of gum – while they left the store with other items, including Sanpellegrino water. In another incident, the police report described a scenario in which Petrus Viljoen “staged” the position of a shopping cart to make it appear as if items were being paid for as Melany Viljoen created a distraction by appearing as if she was having trouble using her credit card to check out.

During several of the incidents, Petrus Viljoen allegedly distracted store employees by engaging them in conversation while his wife walked off with stolen goods. The total loss for Publix was calculated to be $5,302.17.

Petrus Viljoen was arrested after Boca Raton police stopped his vehicle on N. Ocean Boulevard (A1A) on Tuesday. Melany Viljoen was also arrested Tuesday, though the circumstances were not immediately clear. Both were being held in the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bond.