Jesus Christ Latter Day Saint church bishop loses US$32 600

Prosper Dembedza Herald Correspondent

A bishop at Jesus Christ Latter Day Saint church Maclean Masimba Nyandoro allegedly lost US$32 600 to a diesel plant fitter in a botched earth moving machine deal, the court heard.

The accused person Waziri Ramajan was facing theft charges when he appeared before Harare Magistrate Ms Ruth Moyo.

It is the State’s case that on unknown dates, but during the period extending from 2008, Nyandoro gave Ramajan a case front end loader machine to repair since it was non-running.

On the instruction of Ramajan, Nyandoro bought a drum of hydraulic oil for US$1000, a drum of engine oil for US$1000, two heavy duty batteries for US$600, four brand new tyres for US$6000 and was charged US$4000 for labour.

The court heard that instead of fixing the front end loader and return it to the complainant, Ramajan sold it and failed to handover the case front end loader and the accessories bought on his instruction.

Nyandoro discovered the offence on December 9 2022, when he went to collect his machine after making numerous visits which were fruitless. The machine was no longer in the workshop. Resultantly, he made a report to the police.

Police investigations conducted failed to locate the listed items.

Nyandoro suffered a prejudice of US$32 600 due to Ramajan’s actions.