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Fungai Lupande Court Reporter
An African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) programme officer, Mr Dickson Antwi from Ghana, lost US$400 to a Harare builder he contracted to renovate his Avondale home.
Peter Goreka of Kuwadzana, was convicted of theft of trust property and fraud and sentenced to four months in prison by Harare magistrate Mr Takundwa Mtetwa when the matter came to court.
The sentence was wholly suspended on condition that he restitutes Mr Antwi US$160 by October 20.
On fraud charges, Goreka was fined US$300 or four months in prison and was ordered to restitute US$280 to Mr Antwi.
The court heard that Mr Antwi, a senior programmes officer with the ACBF, contracted Goreka to carry out renovations at his home.
On August 23, Mr Antwi gave Goreka US$560 to buy roofing sheets which the latter promised to deliver in five days.
Goreka bought the metal roofing sheets for US$400 and converted the balance to personal use.
Eight days later, Goreka was given US$280 by Mr Maxwell Goredema on behalf of Mr Antwi to buy 80 litres of paint.
Goreka decided to buy poor quality paint for US$88 and pocketed the balance of US$192.
He later gave Mr Antwi a fake receipt indicating that he had bought the paint for US$280.
The court heard that one of the painters noticed that the paint was of poor quality and alerted Mr Antwi, who reported the matter to the police.
Online Reporter