News / National
Borehole drilling company dupes clients
25 Aug 2019 at 09:48hrs | Views
MORE than a dozen Zimbabweans based in the diaspora have fallen prey to an alleged bogus borehole drilling company that was operating in Bulawayo and duped them of thousands of United States dollars.
The company — Bulawayo Drilling, which had offices within the Central Business District has allegedly since vanished, with its phone numbers no longer available. According to some of the victims, representatives and directors of the company became evasive after receiving deposits. Several reports were filed with the police who have since launched investigations.
"We are investigating a case where a company reportedly duped several people of thousands of dollars, after saying they would drill boreholes," said Bulawayo Provincial acting spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube.
One of the victims, Mr Kudakwashe Mazendame said he deposited US$1 500, before representatives and directors of the company became evasive.
"The company is called Bulawayo Drilling, it is situated between 13th and 14th Avenues and Fort Street. I paid a deposit of US$1 500 on 26 July 2019, they promised me they were going to come on Sunday 28 July to drill the borehole but they didn't come. I called them and they said they were in Kensington, drilling another borehole.
"They promised to come on Monday but they didn't come. I then made a follow up at their office only to realise they had closed the offices and their numbers were no longer available. I found quite a number of people with the same problem at the offices, that's when I decided to report the matter to the police," said Mr Mazendame.
Another man, Mr Zibusiso Sibanda said he was duped of US$6 300 and has learnt that the company duped five diasporans based in United Kingdom and German.
"I wanted to have a borehole drilled at my home area in Jotsholo, Lupane, and was referred to Bulawayo Drilling. They charged me US$6 300 for their services and I paid a deposit of US$4 200," Mr Sibanda said.
He said he later paid the balance but no work was done.
"They told me that they would come and do the job before I settled the balance. Since then, they kept giving different stories. Now they are not even responding to my messages."
He said some of the diasporans got to know the company through their Facebook page and believed they were authentic. Sunday News made efforts to locate the said company at its offices in town. The offices were deserted, with the caretaker saying the company had left. He said more than 10 people had been to the building looking for the company.
"There are a lot of people that have been here looking for this company and some are very volatile, as they say they lost thousands of dollars to the company," he said.
The company — Bulawayo Drilling, which had offices within the Central Business District has allegedly since vanished, with its phone numbers no longer available. According to some of the victims, representatives and directors of the company became evasive after receiving deposits. Several reports were filed with the police who have since launched investigations.
"We are investigating a case where a company reportedly duped several people of thousands of dollars, after saying they would drill boreholes," said Bulawayo Provincial acting spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube.
One of the victims, Mr Kudakwashe Mazendame said he deposited US$1 500, before representatives and directors of the company became evasive.
"The company is called Bulawayo Drilling, it is situated between 13th and 14th Avenues and Fort Street. I paid a deposit of US$1 500 on 26 July 2019, they promised me they were going to come on Sunday 28 July to drill the borehole but they didn't come. I called them and they said they were in Kensington, drilling another borehole.
"They promised to come on Monday but they didn't come. I then made a follow up at their office only to realise they had closed the offices and their numbers were no longer available. I found quite a number of people with the same problem at the offices, that's when I decided to report the matter to the police," said Mr Mazendame.
"I wanted to have a borehole drilled at my home area in Jotsholo, Lupane, and was referred to Bulawayo Drilling. They charged me US$6 300 for their services and I paid a deposit of US$4 200," Mr Sibanda said.
He said he later paid the balance but no work was done.
"They told me that they would come and do the job before I settled the balance. Since then, they kept giving different stories. Now they are not even responding to my messages."
He said some of the diasporans got to know the company through their Facebook page and believed they were authentic. Sunday News made efforts to locate the said company at its offices in town. The offices were deserted, with the caretaker saying the company had left. He said more than 10 people had been to the building looking for the company.
"There are a lot of people that have been here looking for this company and some are very volatile, as they say they lost thousands of dollars to the company," he said.
Source - sundaynews
