Duo in $24 000 fraud scam

Two man from Harare have been arrested and sentenced to 18 months in jail after they defrauded a woman of $24 000 they had charged for a residential stand.

Lloyd Zimidzi (47) and Anne Madzima (38) appeared before Mutare magistrate, Langton Mukwengi and pleaded guilty to the fraud charges.

Prosecutor Matthew Chimutunga told the court that the two were purporting to be Earnest and Tarisai Chikwiramakomo, the rightful owners of Stand Number 7008, Tynwald South, Harare which they were trying to sell to Chenai Manamike.

Zimidzi and Madzima stay in Epworth and Chitungwiza respectively and they hatched a plan to defraud unsuspecting buyers by placing an advertisement of the sale of the stand in a local daily.

"The complainant got interested in the stand and phoned Zimidzi who directed her to the stand for viewing, giving an excuse that he was nursing his sick son in Chipinge at that time. After viewing the stand, the complainant called Zimidzi again and they negotiated the price of the stand to $24 000. They further agreed that the complainant would pay $20 000 and the remaining $4 000 in instalments," said Mr Chimutunga.

Zimidzi and his accomplice then scheduled a meeting with the complainant for June 15 at Palm Estate Agents situated at Sanhanga Building in Mutare.

They had equipped themselves with photocopies of the title deeds of the said property and fake identity cards, created to match the particulars of the registered owners of the residential stand.

While at Sanhanga Building, the owner of Palm Estate Agents, Mr Alec Mukanganwa noticed a number of inconsistencies as he was interviewing Zimidzi and Madzima and he immediately gave the police a tip-off.

However, the three signed an agreement of sale of the stand, but no payment was done on this day.

On June 18, the team met again at Mukanganwa's office and while the transaction was in progress, police detectives who had received the tip-off swooped.