Online Reporter
Prosper Dembedza
Herald Correspondent
A HARARE couple facing allegations of swindling eye specialist Dr Solomon Guramatunhu of US$583 660 in a cryptocurrency scam will be back in court on Friday.
Melissa Messe Samantha Chiyangwa and her husband Lloyd are facing charges of theft and unauthorised borrowing of passwords.
The pair is appearing in different courts.
Mellisa is set to make an application for bail on Friday, while Lloyd will be waiting for his bail ruling on changed circumstances.
According to court papers, in 2020, Dr Guramatunhu, a renowned ophthalmologist, bought cryptocurrency from a United Kingdom-based company while in India.
Upon his return to Zimbabwe, he enlisted the help of Lloyd, the accused’s husband, to assist in setting up five digital wallets – Trust Wallet, Exodus, Cosmostation, Wemix and Metamask.
It is alleged that between October 31 2021 and January 7 2024, Melissa Chiyangwa, acting in connivance with her husband, unlawfully accessed Dr Guramatunhu’s Metamask wallet and transferred tokens worth US$583 660.24 to a platform known as Waybit Exchange.
The alleged theft came to light on January 27 2024 when Dr Guramatunhu attempted to move his tokens to another wallet and discovered the funds were missing.
Investigations revealed that the accused used several electronic devices – including an iPhone 14, iPhone 12 Pro, Linux U, Macintosh and an Android phone – to execute the transactions.
Authorities believe Melissa is still transferring tokens to undisclosed destinations using communication devices that are yet to be recovered.
