Fraudster gets 8 months

Tendai Gukutikwa
A CAREER female fraudster from Penhalonga will spent the next eight months being a guest of the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services after being convicted of fraud. Charity Jane Mwatunga (49) was convicted on her own plea of guilty of fraud when she appeared before senior Mutare magistrate, Mrs Sekai Chiundura last week.She was sentenced to an effective six months behind bars, while two months of a previous conviction were added on the sentence, leaving her with an eight-month jail term.
The court heard that Mwatunga misrepresented herself to Agripa Mazire that she was the owner of Shop Number 94C, Herbert Chitepo, Mutare, and defrauded him of $800, which he paid as rentals for the said premises.

Mr Donald Mudadirwa prosecuted.
“Sometime in April 2013, the accused went to Ruth Nyamana and presented herself as the owner of the shop and that she was looking for a tenant.
“Agripa Mazire was later introduced to Mwatunga and paid $800 as rentals. The truth only came out after Mazire wanted to move in and Mwatunga was nowhere in sight. Mazire later discovered that the property belonged to National Railways of Zimbabwe

“A report was made to the police and a manhunt was launched for her. She was arrested on February 10 this year,” he told the court.
Asked why she acted in such an unlawful manner and swindled the $800, Mwatunga cried and said greed had overcome her.
“I admit to the charge, Your Worship. I defrauded him. I just could not help it because I was bankrupt then,” she said.

Mrs Chiundura, however, had a word of warning for her.
“You have suddenly become a career fraudster by duping unsuspecting citizens. The court is not going to show you any mercy since this is your third time standing in that dock. Your sentence is going to be a deterrent one so that whenever you think of defrauding someone else, you will think twice about it,” said Mrs Chiundura.

Mwatunga who has a pending fraud case was recently convicted of another fraud case and ordered to restitute the complainant or risk going to prison.