Prosper Dembedza
Herald Correspondent
A HARARE loan shark, Cleophas Chinonje Chiwaya, has appeared in court on allegations of stealing a Toyota Land Cruiser from Mazowe Central Constituency legislator Dr Maxmore Njanji in a botched loan deal.
Chiwaya was facing theft of trust property charges when he appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Sheunesu Matova on Friday
He was granted US$300 bail.
It is the State’s case that sometime in January 2023, Tawanda Dekwende received information that Dr Njanji was looking for funds for his election campaign.
Dekwende then advised Anyway Wadzingaira and, acting in connivance, hatched a plan to steal Dr Njanji’s vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser motor vehicle.
It is alleged that Dekwende approached Dr Njanji and offered to assist him secure a US$20 000 loan.
The court heard that Dekwende then introduced Dr Njanji to Chiwaya, who is a loan shark operating an illegal and unregistered money lending company.
Chiwaya indicated to Dr Njanji that he would only loan him the money on condition that he pays interest of US$10 000 within a month and also surrenders his vehicle as collateral.
It is alleged that Dr Njanji surrendered his Toyota Land Cruiser valued at US$85 000 and received the US$20 000 from Wadzingaira, who took the vehicle to Chiwaya.
After a month, the complainant repaid the loan with interest through Dekwende and advised Chiwaya, hoping to get his vehicle back.
The accused persons, however, failed to return the vehicle. On February 26, 2026, Chiwaya fraudulently changed the ownership of the vehicle and re-registered the Land Cruiser in Donald Sabeta’s name and subsequently sold the vehicle on April 10, 2026 through 3 Tee Automotive Centre.
On May 12 2026, the vehicle was bought by a Chinese national who then put the vehicle under their name. The complainant was prejudiced of a vehicle valued at US$85 000, and nothing has been recovered.
