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A BULAWAYO man was dragged to court after he allegedly duped his former neighbours of $1 400 in a residential stand deal.
Tawanda Nhopi appeared at the Western Commonage courts facing charges of fraud.
Maxwell Joe, the complainant in the case, told the court that he and his wife Rosemary Mativenga bought a stand from Nhopi in 2015.
a�?We were looking for a stand and Nhopi who was our neighbour at the time told us that he was selling Stand 10103 in Cowdray Park and he then gave my wife some stand papers which she brought home,a�? Joe said.
Recently the couple discovered builders constructing a building on the stand that was sold to them.
a�?When my wife visited the stand, she found men who told her they were contracted by the rightful owners of the stand. We then approached the Bulawayo City Council where we were told to be in possession of fake title deeds ,a�? said Joe.
The court heard that Mativenga then confronted Nhopi with the information she had from the authorities but he promised to allocate another stand to her.
a�?When my wife confronted him, he promised to give us another stand. He then came with new stand papers which did not bear a residential address. A few days later he came back for the papers and told us that he wanted to write down the residential stand number,a�? he added.
But the couplea��s days of distress were far from over as the accused disappeared for months until they went to his house and demanded their money.
a�?We went to his house and demanded our money but he walked away, leaving us with his wife forcing us to file a police report,a�? Joe said.
Nhopi did not admit to the charge and pleaded not guilty.
Presiding magistrate Stephen Ndhlovu postponed the matter to 26 April for ruling.
Online Reporter