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Farmer loses 340 tonnes of maize to con artist

by Staff reporter
01 Apr 2021 at 07:18hrs | Views
A HARARE man was yesterday arraigned before the courts after he allegedly duped a farmer of 340 tonnes of maize worth US$131 400.

Hugh Tinashe Sibanda (37) appeared before magistrate Vongai Muchuchuti-Guwuriro who denied him bail on the grounds that he interfered with State witnesses while in police cells.

Allegations are that between April and December 2020, Sibanda was acting as a liaison person for OB Plus Trading (Pvt) Ltd and Pfumo Capital (Pvt) Ltd based on an agreement entered into by the two companies.

The State alleges that Sibanda, without authority from OB Plus Trading (Pvt) Ltd and Pfumo Capital (Pvt) Ltd, proceeded to Metro Greenwave Milling Company and misrepresented facts to Tafadzwa Motsi, the logistics supervisor and Mathew Uys, the warehouse manager to the effect that he was given the authority to collect 360 metric tonnes of maize by OB Plus Trading (Pvt) Ltd.

It is alleged that Sibanda collected the maize and sold it to various companies including Proceeds (Pvt) Ltd and Feedmix (Pvt) Ltd through a company called Agripeak Pvt Ltd.

He received US$48 065 for the 205,6 metric tonnes which he sold through Agripeak.

The State alleges that Sibanda sold another 40 metric tonnes of maize to M&M Foods (Pvt) Ltd and received US$12 000. This was recorded in delivery notes, goods received and cash payment vouchers.

The State alleges that after disposing of the maize, Sibanda lied to the complainant through its chairman that the maize was milled by mistake by Uys.

Sibanda allegedly defrauded OB Plus Trading Pvt Ltd of US$131 400 and nothing was recovered.

Source - newsday