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Zvikomborero Parafini
CHRIST Embassy Church Mutare branch pastor, Thomas Tatenda Marongwe, was yesterday dragged to court to answer to fraud charges involving a smuggled vehicle.
Marongwe appeared before regional magistrate, Donald Ndirowei, who remanded him in custody to today pending his bail hearing.
Allegations are that sometime in 2022, Sean Persuade Kaseke, who is at large, smuggled into Zimbabwe a white Toyota Fortuner.
He placed it for sale at Sean Motors Car Sales, situated at the corner of Robert Mugabe and Chiremba roads in the capital.
The Toyota Fortuner was then affixed with registration number plate AFC 0441, which had been stolen, and a fake registration book was forged to purport that the motor vehicle was registered as that of the President’s Office.
On January 19 this year, Marongwe who had learnt that Elton Tapiwa Zikatih was looking for an automatic Toyota Fortuner, connived with Kaseke to defraud him.
Marongwe allegedly misrepresented that the vehicle in question was being offered for sale as an ex-Government vehicle and would be de-registered in November.
They hoodwinked Zikatih into believing that they would change the documentation regarding the ownership after it was de-registered and that he would be issued with an exemption letter to be able to freely use the car.
Zikatih swapped his Toyota Hilux GD6 and topped US$10 000 for the Toyota Fortuner.
Bongani Ndlovu
Mathew Masinge