$1 million fraudster freed on bail

Tapiwa Felix Chikondo was arrested on December 3 and charged with obstructing justice after allegedly interfering with police efforts to arrest his employer. His initial bail application was denied on December 5.

Prosper Dembedza Court Correspondent
Harare magistrate Mr Dennis Mangosi has granted $5 000 bail to a suspected fraudster who allegedly posed as an Econet airtime dealer and duped an unsuspecting airtime vendor of $1 507 000.

Michael Mutsvunguma appeared in court charged with fraud.

On June 20, an unnamed complainant wanted to buy wholesale airtime from Econet Wireless and Mutsvunguma told him that he would facilitate the transaction.

Mutsvunguma told the complainant to deposit $1 507 000 into an Econet Stanbic Bank account, telling him that the airtime would be ready for collection by the end of the day.

The complainant made an internal transfer of $1 507 000 from his company’s Stanbic Bank account into the one that had been supplied by Mutsvunguma.

Mutsvunguma then went to an Econet branch and misrepresented that he had been sent by the complainant and collected the money, exchanged it on the black market where he got US$11 188.

Mutsvunguma failed to deliver the airtime to the complainant.

He was arrested on Tuesday last week in central Harare after a tip-off by the complainant.