News / Local
The full story of $45k 'conman'
22 May 2015 at 14:29hrs | Views
A MAN facing prosecution for allegedly swindling a Mpilo Central Hospital executive of $45,000 is a serial fraudster who claims links with influential people to gain trust, the Chronicle reported.
Brett Sibanda, 23, made headlines on Wednesday for allegedly conning Mpilo's acting clinical director, Dr Solwayo Ngwenya, after claiming he could recover a laptop, flash disk and office keys that were stolen from his vehicle in April.
Investigations by The Chronicle reveal Sibanda is a criminal mastermind who makes a living from lying and deceit In his wake, he has hurt his family, besmirched the names of individuals in high power and made himself a sizeable fortune.
Sibanda claims his father is Lieutenant General Philip Valerio Sibanda, the commander of the Zimbabwe National Army.
Lt Gen Sibanda has denied links with Brett, who is also known as Chris Sibanda in other circles.
"It's not true. He's not my son. He's an impostor" said Lt Gen Sibanda, speaking through ZNA spokesperson, Lt Col Alphios Makotore.
"He once claimed he was my son to defraud someone and fled to Botswana."
Some of Brett's victims include individuals who paid him money hoping to get farms; some whom he convinced he was a car importer; others who applied for jobs at his shadowy not-for-profit outfit Umuzi Wabancane; furniture shops as well as his own family.
Brett would tell his victims that Lt Col Sibanda organised a job for him with the United Nations, where he said he was earning £ 6,800 every week.
He claimed he did not get his pay for six years, and had just been paid the money as a lump sum.
He also told several people that he had recently bought a house in Cowdray Park for $56,000 from Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko.
He has been living large and giving the impression he hobnobs with important people.
His Facebook page is decorated with pictures of Lt Gen Sibanda. On it, he claims he graduated from the "Military Collage" (sic) in 2000. Brett, born on February 14 in 1992, would have been eight then.
An individual who spoke to him recently said: "Brett claims he has £160,000 in a UK bank and about $24 million in Zimbabwe."
A family from Bulawayo's Pumula South suburb - whose daughter Brett has allegedly fallen in love with - is now living on the edge and avoiding visitors.
The con artist reportedly bought expensive furniture for the family, which includes leather sofas, a plasma TV, and a cooker.
Sources close to the family said he was due to pay lobola for the girl this month end, but he is now set to miss his big day after he was remanded in custody to June 2 over the alleged Mpilo swindle.
His girlfriend, Terryn Wushe, was in the news last year after being allegedly impregnated by a Form 1 pupil at Good Hope College in Pumula South, where she worked as a data entry clerk.
Two men, who run Data King Furniture shop in the city centre, told The Chronicle how they almost lost $5,000 to the smooth talking Brett
"He walked into the shop on a Sunday morning, the week of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair," recalls Khulumani Paunganwa, 35.
"He found me playing with my Samsung S4 and said he wanted it. I refused to sell it to him and he instantly bought a phone on display for $350, paying cash."
Paungwana said Brett introduced himself as the son of Lt Gen Sibanda.
He had a thick wad of $100 notes that he was "holding casually''
"He looked around the shop and his eyes landed on a top-of-the-range Sony 7.2 channel home theatre and he said he wanted it. He didn't blink an eye when he paid the $2,000 price. He was unfazed when he paid an almost similar amount for a 55-inch Samsung LED TV set. He didn't haggle but paid straight away," said Paunganwa.
Brett spent about $4,000 in the shop that day.
Garikayi Tapera Moyo, 42, who co-owns the shop, said Brett went on to make orders for items that were not sold in the shop.
"He said he wanted a bed, a four-plate stove and car tyres for his Jeep. He told us to buy the things and he I would pay. We bought the tyres in Botswana and he paid cash for everything," said Moyo.
He said Brett then ordered office furniture worth $5,000 which Moyo sourced and delivered to his office along Jason Moyo and First Avenue from where Umuzi Wabancane operates.
Brett had arrived in the shop with a woman who has since been identified as Wushe's mother, who is said to be employed at Ingutsheni Central Hospital.
She was allegedly also flashing a big bundle of $100 notes.
Moyo said after delivering the furniture, Brett disappeared and he started hearing disturbing stories about him.
"I went back to the office and collected the furniture. Days later, I was shocked to read in The Chronicle that he had conned someone of such a huge amount of money," he said.
Moyo said Brett was in the habit of answering his phone in the middle of conversations and claiming it was his "father"- Lt Gen Sibanda - calling him.
"We believed him since he was spending so much, something we last saw in the trillion dollar notes era in 2008," Moyo said.
"We even saw him walking with the presidential entourage at the Trade Fair, wearing a Zanu-PF cap. Looking back, I think he was just walking near the group pretending he was part of it"
He said he believed Brett was trying to use the oldest trick in the book - spending a lot of money to gain his trust, before taking him to the cleaners for a bigger amount
The Chronicle caught up with his girlfriend, Wushe, at a flat along George Silundika Street and 2nd Avenue, where she had started co-habiting with Brett She fled in a Ford Ranger twin cab that sources alleged Brett recently bought for her. Brett's fleet is said to include a Mercedes, a Jeep and a Land Rover.
Police were not spared by the fraudster. When he was arrested for allegedly swindling Dr Ngwenya, he told them he was Lt Gen Sibanda's son.
"We treated him with diffidence until Lt Gen Sibanda called us to say he heard an impostor was claiming to be his son. After interrogation, he said he was misquoted as his lather was a Col Sibanda from Brad Barracks. He then claimed to be an undercover Central Intelligence Organisation agent who had been sent to discredit the Mpilo Central Hospital board," said a police source.
The source said Brett claimed bigwig politicians were plundering millions from Mpilo Central Hospital coffers and did not want an audit to be carried out "Further investigations proved he was lying. He started changing stories when CIO bosses were called to the station," the source said.
The Chronicle traced his sister Caroline Moyo, 30, who said she chased him away from home because of his dishonesty.
"He's not my real brother but he lived with us since he was a child. His father is Themba Sibanda, an MDC-T activist. He has always been a problem child," said Moyo.
She said he fled from Victoria Falls when he conned someone of about $2,800.
"I'm surprised he is said to have conned someone (Dr Ngwenya) of so much money. His grandmother is literally starving and he has never bought her even a loaf of bread. We've been seeing deliveries of expensive furniture at his girlfriend's parents' house and he has been changing expensive cars recently? said Moyo.
She said Brett has always been poor and everyone was wondering where the sudden windfall had come from Moyo said she had put up with Brett until he made a deal to sell their Pumula South home without her knowledge.
"He somehow got hold of the tide deeds and gave them to someone as security for a $2,800 loan. We were tipped off by someone before he could seal the deal. I had to chuck him out then," she said.
Moyo said police and some shady characters had started frequenting their house when she evicted her brother: Neighbours told the Chronide Brett had recently secured employment for his father-in- law at an unspecified government department
Brett is also the managing director of a local NGO, Umuzi Wabancane. We could not find a record of the registration of the organisation anywhere.
Chris Nyakudya, the Bulawayo provincial officer in the Department of Social Welfare Services which maintains a register of all NGOs operating in the city, said there was no record of the organisation. An official from die National Organisation of Non- Governmental Organisations (Nango), who asked not to be named, said they were not aware of the organisations existence.
Its offices, where the office furniture from Data King had been delivered, were empty and locked yesterday. Umuzi Wabancane is not new to The Chronicle, however. Last month, Brett drove to Plumtree with our reporter saying he had been moved by the case of a 13-year-old Bulilima girl who had to drop out of school after being impregnated by a 19-year-old herd boy.
Driving in two cars, he took along with him nearly a dozen other people - some were introduced as security officers. The organisation donated food, baby preparation and clothes to the teenager, with an undertaking that Umuzi Wabancane would pick up her medical bills. Once she gave birth, the girl would be returned to school with the organisation picking up the bill. There is no way of knowing whether Brett would have ever kept any of his pledges.
The Chronicle has also heard claims that several individuals transferred money to Brett after he promised to import cars on their behalf or facilitate farm for them. Most were disappointed.
Brett Sibanda, 23, made headlines on Wednesday for allegedly conning Mpilo's acting clinical director, Dr Solwayo Ngwenya, after claiming he could recover a laptop, flash disk and office keys that were stolen from his vehicle in April.
Investigations by The Chronicle reveal Sibanda is a criminal mastermind who makes a living from lying and deceit In his wake, he has hurt his family, besmirched the names of individuals in high power and made himself a sizeable fortune.
Sibanda claims his father is Lieutenant General Philip Valerio Sibanda, the commander of the Zimbabwe National Army.
Lt Gen Sibanda has denied links with Brett, who is also known as Chris Sibanda in other circles.
"It's not true. He's not my son. He's an impostor" said Lt Gen Sibanda, speaking through ZNA spokesperson, Lt Col Alphios Makotore.
"He once claimed he was my son to defraud someone and fled to Botswana."
Some of Brett's victims include individuals who paid him money hoping to get farms; some whom he convinced he was a car importer; others who applied for jobs at his shadowy not-for-profit outfit Umuzi Wabancane; furniture shops as well as his own family.
Brett would tell his victims that Lt Col Sibanda organised a job for him with the United Nations, where he said he was earning £ 6,800 every week.
He claimed he did not get his pay for six years, and had just been paid the money as a lump sum.
He also told several people that he had recently bought a house in Cowdray Park for $56,000 from Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko.
He has been living large and giving the impression he hobnobs with important people.
His Facebook page is decorated with pictures of Lt Gen Sibanda. On it, he claims he graduated from the "Military Collage" (sic) in 2000. Brett, born on February 14 in 1992, would have been eight then.
An individual who spoke to him recently said: "Brett claims he has £160,000 in a UK bank and about $24 million in Zimbabwe."
A family from Bulawayo's Pumula South suburb - whose daughter Brett has allegedly fallen in love with - is now living on the edge and avoiding visitors.
The con artist reportedly bought expensive furniture for the family, which includes leather sofas, a plasma TV, and a cooker.
Sources close to the family said he was due to pay lobola for the girl this month end, but he is now set to miss his big day after he was remanded in custody to June 2 over the alleged Mpilo swindle.
His girlfriend, Terryn Wushe, was in the news last year after being allegedly impregnated by a Form 1 pupil at Good Hope College in Pumula South, where she worked as a data entry clerk.
Two men, who run Data King Furniture shop in the city centre, told The Chronicle how they almost lost $5,000 to the smooth talking Brett
"He walked into the shop on a Sunday morning, the week of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair," recalls Khulumani Paunganwa, 35.
"He found me playing with my Samsung S4 and said he wanted it. I refused to sell it to him and he instantly bought a phone on display for $350, paying cash."
Paungwana said Brett introduced himself as the son of Lt Gen Sibanda.
He had a thick wad of $100 notes that he was "holding casually''
"He looked around the shop and his eyes landed on a top-of-the-range Sony 7.2 channel home theatre and he said he wanted it. He didn't blink an eye when he paid the $2,000 price. He was unfazed when he paid an almost similar amount for a 55-inch Samsung LED TV set. He didn't haggle but paid straight away," said Paunganwa.
Brett spent about $4,000 in the shop that day.
Garikayi Tapera Moyo, 42, who co-owns the shop, said Brett went on to make orders for items that were not sold in the shop.
He said Brett then ordered office furniture worth $5,000 which Moyo sourced and delivered to his office along Jason Moyo and First Avenue from where Umuzi Wabancane operates.
Brett had arrived in the shop with a woman who has since been identified as Wushe's mother, who is said to be employed at Ingutsheni Central Hospital.
She was allegedly also flashing a big bundle of $100 notes.
Moyo said after delivering the furniture, Brett disappeared and he started hearing disturbing stories about him.
"I went back to the office and collected the furniture. Days later, I was shocked to read in The Chronicle that he had conned someone of such a huge amount of money," he said.
Moyo said Brett was in the habit of answering his phone in the middle of conversations and claiming it was his "father"- Lt Gen Sibanda - calling him.
"We believed him since he was spending so much, something we last saw in the trillion dollar notes era in 2008," Moyo said.
"We even saw him walking with the presidential entourage at the Trade Fair, wearing a Zanu-PF cap. Looking back, I think he was just walking near the group pretending he was part of it"
He said he believed Brett was trying to use the oldest trick in the book - spending a lot of money to gain his trust, before taking him to the cleaners for a bigger amount
The Chronicle caught up with his girlfriend, Wushe, at a flat along George Silundika Street and 2nd Avenue, where she had started co-habiting with Brett She fled in a Ford Ranger twin cab that sources alleged Brett recently bought for her. Brett's fleet is said to include a Mercedes, a Jeep and a Land Rover.
Police were not spared by the fraudster. When he was arrested for allegedly swindling Dr Ngwenya, he told them he was Lt Gen Sibanda's son.
"We treated him with diffidence until Lt Gen Sibanda called us to say he heard an impostor was claiming to be his son. After interrogation, he said he was misquoted as his lather was a Col Sibanda from Brad Barracks. He then claimed to be an undercover Central Intelligence Organisation agent who had been sent to discredit the Mpilo Central Hospital board," said a police source.
The source said Brett claimed bigwig politicians were plundering millions from Mpilo Central Hospital coffers and did not want an audit to be carried out "Further investigations proved he was lying. He started changing stories when CIO bosses were called to the station," the source said.
The Chronicle traced his sister Caroline Moyo, 30, who said she chased him away from home because of his dishonesty.
"He's not my real brother but he lived with us since he was a child. His father is Themba Sibanda, an MDC-T activist. He has always been a problem child," said Moyo.
She said he fled from Victoria Falls when he conned someone of about $2,800.
"I'm surprised he is said to have conned someone (Dr Ngwenya) of so much money. His grandmother is literally starving and he has never bought her even a loaf of bread. We've been seeing deliveries of expensive furniture at his girlfriend's parents' house and he has been changing expensive cars recently? said Moyo.
She said Brett has always been poor and everyone was wondering where the sudden windfall had come from Moyo said she had put up with Brett until he made a deal to sell their Pumula South home without her knowledge.
"He somehow got hold of the tide deeds and gave them to someone as security for a $2,800 loan. We were tipped off by someone before he could seal the deal. I had to chuck him out then," she said.
Moyo said police and some shady characters had started frequenting their house when she evicted her brother: Neighbours told the Chronide Brett had recently secured employment for his father-in- law at an unspecified government department
Brett is also the managing director of a local NGO, Umuzi Wabancane. We could not find a record of the registration of the organisation anywhere.
Chris Nyakudya, the Bulawayo provincial officer in the Department of Social Welfare Services which maintains a register of all NGOs operating in the city, said there was no record of the organisation. An official from die National Organisation of Non- Governmental Organisations (Nango), who asked not to be named, said they were not aware of the organisations existence.
Its offices, where the office furniture from Data King had been delivered, were empty and locked yesterday. Umuzi Wabancane is not new to The Chronicle, however. Last month, Brett drove to Plumtree with our reporter saying he had been moved by the case of a 13-year-old Bulilima girl who had to drop out of school after being impregnated by a 19-year-old herd boy.
Driving in two cars, he took along with him nearly a dozen other people - some were introduced as security officers. The organisation donated food, baby preparation and clothes to the teenager, with an undertaking that Umuzi Wabancane would pick up her medical bills. Once she gave birth, the girl would be returned to school with the organisation picking up the bill. There is no way of knowing whether Brett would have ever kept any of his pledges.
The Chronicle has also heard claims that several individuals transferred money to Brett after he promised to import cars on their behalf or facilitate farm for them. Most were disappointed.
Source - chronicle
