News / National
Couple creates 'ghost child' to evade child support
01 Dec 2017 at 04:56hrs | Views
IN a live script-like drama stint which could easily be adopted for a soapie, a man who impregnated his small house reportedly teamed up with his wife and created a "ghost" child in a bid to avoid paying maintenance for the child from the other woman.
Artford Tambala and his wife Chido Chashe Tambala reportedly hatched a plan to evade paying maintenance and fix the girlfriend by having the wife rush to courts to claim $600 maintenance.
All this was meant to frustrate the girlfriend who was threatening to rush to court to demand money from Tambala as he was not supporting the child.
The couple, who do not have a child together, upon realising the looming financial constraints if the girlfriend claimed maintenance, quickly created a ghost child to make it appear as if the husband was already paying $600 maintenance.
When the wife applied for maintenance, the husband never opposed and it was granted.
However, on the other hand they knew that it was just a deal to stop the girlfriend from claiming maintenance as after being shown the court papers she assumed she was going to get peanuts and backed off.
These revelations came out during a hearing where Chido had applied for a garnish order, but Tambala through his lawyer Chinamate Midzi opposed it.
The wife stated that she wants the maintenance money meant for her and the child to be deducted from the pay as the husband was not giving her the money.
Tambala, through his lawyer, opposed the garnish order saying it was not possible because the order was obtained under fraudulent means as the couple never had any child, but it was just done to frustrate his girlfriend.
In response, the wife also dismissed the allegations saying the maintenance claim was for another child whom her husband brought from another relationship.
The presiding magistrate Shepherd Mjanja postponed the ruling to 4 December citing that the courts needed time to verify their claims.
Artford Tambala and his wife Chido Chashe Tambala reportedly hatched a plan to evade paying maintenance and fix the girlfriend by having the wife rush to courts to claim $600 maintenance.
All this was meant to frustrate the girlfriend who was threatening to rush to court to demand money from Tambala as he was not supporting the child.
The couple, who do not have a child together, upon realising the looming financial constraints if the girlfriend claimed maintenance, quickly created a ghost child to make it appear as if the husband was already paying $600 maintenance.
When the wife applied for maintenance, the husband never opposed and it was granted.
These revelations came out during a hearing where Chido had applied for a garnish order, but Tambala through his lawyer Chinamate Midzi opposed it.
The wife stated that she wants the maintenance money meant for her and the child to be deducted from the pay as the husband was not giving her the money.
Tambala, through his lawyer, opposed the garnish order saying it was not possible because the order was obtained under fraudulent means as the couple never had any child, but it was just done to frustrate his girlfriend.
In response, the wife also dismissed the allegations saying the maintenance claim was for another child whom her husband brought from another relationship.
The presiding magistrate Shepherd Mjanja postponed the ruling to 4 December citing that the courts needed time to verify their claims.
Source - bmetro
