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Senior Court Reporter
AN Italian national appeared in court over the weekend on allegations of duping a businessman of US$185 000 in a botched groundnuts sale and solar panels importation deal.
Maurizio Arezio appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court charged with money laundering.
He was not asked to plead to the charges and is expected back in court tomorrow for bail application.
It is alleged that in March 2021, Maurizio and his brother Gabrielle Arezio, who is still at large, approached the complainant who was selling groundnuts and allegedly misrepresented that they could buy his groundnuts.
They allegedly took groundnuts worth US$54 600 and promised to pay for them on or before April 30, 2021, but failed.
Between May 2021 and September 2022, Arezio heard that the complainant wanted to import solar panels.
The two brothers approached the complainant saying they had funds from their foreign currency accounts which they could use to buy him the solar panels.
They then allegedly proposed that as a way of settling the US$54 600 they were owing to complainant, they would pay for the solar panels in instalments of US$60 000 using their foreign currency accounts in Romania, Dubai, South Africa and China.
It is alleged that the two brothers gave the complainant fake proof of payments for several transactions.
Online Reporter