BOGUS H-METRO SYNDICATE BUSTED

Mathew Masinge

A SYNDICATE of people, who have been masquerading as H-Metro staffers, has been busted.

This followed a tip-off that a couple of fraudsters, at Bechmag Herbal Solutions, have been soliciting for adverts, via a WhatsApp group named H-Metro News 356, where they were charging as little as US$5 and up to US$25, for an advert running for five days.

The crew, which is operating at Waydone House at the corner of Mbuya Nehanda and Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, has also been claiming to would-be advertisers in H-Metro they had a reach of 180 000 subscribers in over 700 groups.

H-Metro has only 13 WhatsApp groups, administered by our crew, which do not publish the kind of material published by these fraudsters.

After tracing the fraudsters, one of them, Sean Karangura, led us to Bechmag Herbal Solutions, where we met four agents.

The group has an H-Metro logo on its profile and is administered by two bogus characters, Shyne Karangura (0718203375), who uses an unregistered NetOne number 0718422907.

After going through inquiries, unsuspecting clients are advised to Ecocash money using the mobile number 0779541275, registered under Sean Karangura.

Confronted over the fraud, Sean first admitted that he was accepting the adverts, but later changed stance claiming he was merely a “passenger” in the syndicate.

“Yes, we take adverts to place them in H-Metro online and the hard copy.

“There is someone who handles clients after their payments come through, I am merely an employee in this whole set-up.

“We sell herbs and the herbs business led us to engage our clients to advertise in H-Metro,” said Sean.

Quizzed further, Sean identified his boss, known as Baxley Chimanikire, claiming he was the one with the answers.

Chimanikire said he wasn’t aware of the issue, but claimed one of his agents might be behind the syndicate.

“I am not aware that some of my employees have been doing that because my core business is to sell herbs and we sometimes advertise through newspapers,” said Chimanikire.

H-Metro Editor, Robson Sharuko, described it as a sad day.

“It takes years to build a brand and we have earned our stripes because of the hard work we have put in all these years,” he said.

“It’s sad that a cunning fellow will just wake up and devise a way to try and abuse our identity to make a quick dollar for themselves.

“What is even more worrying is what these shadowy people do, in terms of extorting people, claiming they are working for H-Metro.

“This is just the tip of an iceberg, it appears, but what is refreshing is that such schemes don’t last for long because the light will over impose itself over darkness.”