Coach builder steals, sells client’s bus

a Ministry of Transport official for US$12 000.
Milton Mwashita (35) pleaded not guilty to fraud charges when he appeared before provincial magistrate Mr Kudakwashe Jarabini who convicted him because of overwhelming evidence.
In his defence Mwashita had claimed that the owner of the bus had instructed him to sell it.
However, in his judgment Mr Jarabini said it was illogical for the third witness to travel from South Africa with a bus engine to reconstruct the bus he had instructed Mwashita to sell.
He said evidence led by the complainant was overwhelming against Mwashita.
In mitigation Mwashita told the court that he was a family man and was willing to restitute the complainant.
The complainant in the matter is Mr Tobias Simbarashe Chibango who is employed at the Central Vehicle Registry.
Prosecutor Ms Memory Mukapa proved that sometime in 2009, Cleopas Gororo who is based in South Africa gave Mwashita a shell of an AVM DAF bus to repair.
On January 5 Mwashita misrepresented to the complainant that he had been instructed by Gororo to sell a bus shell on his behalf.
The complainant was interested and entered into an agreement with Mwashita and paid a total of US$12 000, which he paid in instalments.
On April 4, the complainant saw the owner of the bus and was told that he never instructed Mwashita to sell the bus.
By means of the misrepresentation, the complainant was prejudiced US$12 000 and nothing was recovered.