daniel chigunwe
Herald Correspondent
The investigating officer in the fraud trial for a betting company Bezbets today told the court that indeed the company made a misrepresentation to the complainant.
Bezbets is facing allegations of defrauding a client of US$5 200 he had won after playing a game.
Detective Walter Muri told the court that indeed there is a ticket showing that the complainant placed a bet and won US$5 400 which Bezbets is refusing to pay.
“The misrepresentation was that the Bezbets system showed that after placing the bet the punter would win US$5400,” he said.
Detective Muri told the court he did not see anywhere written that Bezbets does not allow bets exceeding US$50.
The State closed its case after leading evidence from Detective Muri.
The magistrate Mr Simon Kandiero will deliver the ruling on February 12.
The trial opened last week with the complainant insisting that he was indeed defrauded of his money after winning a bet.
The punter told Mr Kandiero that Bezbets suddenly changed rules after noticing that he had won a bet.
“In order to terminate evidence, Bezbets went on to delete my account.”
“They offered me US$1 800 and I refused to accept it since I had won US$5 400,” he said.
The punter further and told the court that in another bid to conceal the offence Bezbets opened a counter charge of fraud against him which was declined prosecution during vetting.
“I have been placing bets of more than US$50 for close to two years and losing large sums of money but when I won a bet on October 26, 2023, Bezbets refused to pay me.
“There is nowhere on their roulette system where it is written that US$50 is the maximum stake per bet, their system allows you to play any amount up to US$10 000,” he said.
The punter also submitted that Bezbets verbally introduced to him the rule that US$50 is the maximum stake per bet upon realising that he had won.
Bezbets is represented by its manager Robson Chinamasa.
Chinamasa pleaded not guilty on behalf of the company to fraud charges when he initially appeared before Mr Kandiero.
Prosecuting, Mr Thomas Chanakira alleged that on October 26, and on the Bezbets online platform, the complainant placed a bet on the roulette with a stake of US$394. The platform gave him a potential win of US$5 400, provided the bet was won. But after winning, the company refused to pay him and engaged him with a view to pay him US$1 800.
Bezbets is being represented by Brighton Pabwe from Venturas and Samkange Legal Practitioners.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter