Real Housewives star accused in $5K Florida Publix grocery scam claimed to be in ‘survival mode’: Documents
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - SEPTEMBER 18: Peet & Melany Viljoen during Royalty Soapie Awards at Radisson Hotel and Convention Centre on September 18, 2021 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Royalty Soapie Awards is annual award ceremony that recogni
BOCA RATON, Fla. - A reality television couple was arrested in Florida after investigators said they stole thousands of dollars in groceries from a Publix.
The backstory:
Police in Boca Raton arrested Petrus "Peet" and Melany Viljoen, a couple who appeared on the "Real Housewives of Pretoria", following a ticket-switching investigation at an area Publix.
According to a probable cause affidavit, closed-circuit television showed a man and a woman, later identified as the Viljoens, going to a Publix on Federal Highway and holding dry seasoning packets over the barcodes of various items, so they were charged the cost of the dry seasoning packet and not the actual item.
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Investigators said they were able to catch the suspects getting into a black 2016 Land Rover Range Rover on multiple occasions and tracked the vehicle to Melany Viljoen.
By the numbers:
Between August 2025 and February 2026, the Viljoens were involved in more than 50 fraudulent transactions, which cost Publix more than $5,000, according to court documents.
The affidavit also states that on several occasions, Petrus Viljoen was seen on video talking to a Publix employee to distract them while his wife went through the self-checkout lane.
Dig deeper:
On March 10, 2026, Petrus Viljoen was taken into custody during a traffic stop. Despite being shown photos and videos of the couple in Publix, investigators said he claimed they were just shopping and denied ticket-switching.
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Melany Viljoen, according to court documents, claimed to be the only one involved in ticket-switching, even after being shown video of her husband acting alone in the store in August 2025.
The affidavit states that Melany Viljoen said she was stealing because she was in "survival mode" and had not worked since coming to the United States because she didn’t have a visa.
The couple was charged with retail grand theft over $3,000.
The Source: This article was written with information found in a probable cause affidavit.