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Churchmate loses US$21 891 in gold scam
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Two Goromonzi brothers have appeared in court for allegedly defrauding their churchmate of US$21 891 after luring him into a gold-buying venture and allegedly fabricating a robbery story to conceal the disappearance of the money and gold.
Tawanda Mutando (38) and Knowledge Mutando (32) appeared before Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo facing fraud charges.
They were granted bail and remanded to a later date.
The complainant, Terence Mashiri, is employed by Blue Stream Finance.
The State alleges that in September 2025, Tawanda approached Mashiri with a proposal to partner in a gold-buying business and invited him to invest.
To convince Mashiri that the venture was legitimate, Tawanda allegedly produced a permit purportedly issued by Fidelity Gold Refinery (Private) Limited authorising him to operate as a legal gold buyer.
The permit allegedly listed Knowledge as an agent.
According to the State, Knowledge was responsible for buying gold while Tawanda would account for the money and gold purchased.
Believing the representations, Mashiri allegedly handed Tawanda US$31 700 to invest in the business.
In January 2026, Mashiri allegedly requested US$15 000 from his investment for personal use.
Two days later, Tawanda allegedly returned only US$5 500, leaving US$26 200 outstanding.
The court heard that Knowledge subsequently told Mashiri that he had purchased 136.82 grammes of gold for US$14 571.33.
He allegedly said he was transporting the gold to Harare for safekeeping.
However, after arriving in Harare, Knowledge allegedly claimed that he had been robbed and that both the gold and money had been stolen.
The alleged robbery later came under scrutiny.
A month later, Mashiri allegedly discovered that Knowledge had not been robbed but had instead used the money to purchase a residential stand and construct a house in Goromonzi.
The State alleges that Mashiri confronted the brothers at their residence, where they allegedly admitted that the robbery story had been fabricated.
The brothers allegedly agreed to reimburse Mashiri and offered to surrender the residential stand as part-payment.
The State alleges that the misrepresentations resulted in Mashiri suffering an actual prejudice of US$21 891.
The court heard that only US$6 820 has so far been recovered.
The matter was remanded for continuation, with the accused remaining on bail.
Tawanda Mutando (38) and Knowledge Mutando (32) appeared before Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo facing fraud charges.
They were granted bail and remanded to a later date.
The complainant, Terence Mashiri, is employed by Blue Stream Finance.
The State alleges that in September 2025, Tawanda approached Mashiri with a proposal to partner in a gold-buying business and invited him to invest.
To convince Mashiri that the venture was legitimate, Tawanda allegedly produced a permit purportedly issued by Fidelity Gold Refinery (Private) Limited authorising him to operate as a legal gold buyer.
The permit allegedly listed Knowledge as an agent.
According to the State, Knowledge was responsible for buying gold while Tawanda would account for the money and gold purchased.
Believing the representations, Mashiri allegedly handed Tawanda US$31 700 to invest in the business.
In January 2026, Mashiri allegedly requested US$15 000 from his investment for personal use.
Two days later, Tawanda allegedly returned only US$5 500, leaving US$26 200 outstanding.
The court heard that Knowledge subsequently told Mashiri that he had purchased 136.82 grammes of gold for US$14 571.33.
He allegedly said he was transporting the gold to Harare for safekeeping.
However, after arriving in Harare, Knowledge allegedly claimed that he had been robbed and that both the gold and money had been stolen.
The alleged robbery later came under scrutiny.
A month later, Mashiri allegedly discovered that Knowledge had not been robbed but had instead used the money to purchase a residential stand and construct a house in Goromonzi.
The State alleges that Mashiri confronted the brothers at their residence, where they allegedly admitted that the robbery story had been fabricated.
The brothers allegedly agreed to reimburse Mashiri and offered to surrender the residential stand as part-payment.
The State alleges that the misrepresentations resulted in Mashiri suffering an actual prejudice of US$21 891.
The court heard that only US$6 820 has so far been recovered.
The matter was remanded for continuation, with the accused remaining on bail.
Source - The Herald
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