Vusumuzi Dube
Taboka Tshuma, Sunday News Reporter
A 21-year-old man from Gweru was sentenced to 36 months imprisonment for fraud after he defrauded a cashier by producing a fake money transfer message of US$450.
Stanford Tapiwa Marongwe will however serve an effective 10 months in jail after eight months were suspended for five years, and an additional 18 months were suspended on restitution.
He was brought before the Gweru Magistrates Court.
According to a statement by the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ), the accused person on 21 September 2024 went to the mobile money outlet where the complainant is a cashier and intended to make a cash out of US$450 and then requested a calculator from the complainant and he was given the complainant’s cellphone.
“He saved his phone number with a contact name +263164USD in the complainant’s cellphone and sent a please call me message to his number and gave the complainant’s cellphone back, he created a text message purporting that he had made a cash out of US$450 and sent the message to the complainant’s mobile number, “ said the NPAZ
The complainant acted upon the accused person’s misrepresentatation and gave the accused person US$450, the complainant discovered the offense while reconciling the books later that evening.
The accused person defrauded two more complainants of US$850 and US$1000 using the same method.
Online Reporter