Man arrested for fraud

Crime Reporter

The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission has arrested Partwell Machipa on charges of fraud, after he illegally sold a residential stand under the Madzibaba Border Gezi Housing Cooperative, in Harare.

Allegations are that sometime in 2003, Erick Mthunzi Moyo and Lucia Rukara joined the Madzibaba Boarder Gezi Housing Cooperative and were allocated stands measuring 1 000 and 1 600 square meters respectively.

Moyo later decided to dispose of his stand and engaged the accused person to act as a middleman.

The accused allegedly sold the stand to one Simbarashe Hope Machakaire for US$7 500 and converted the money to his own use.

Unaware that the residential stand had already been bought, Moyo sold the stand to the complainant, Menard Mutanga for US$7 000 and notified the accused that the stand was no longer available.

Realising the danger, Machipa transferred US$1 500 to Moyo and advised him that he had also sold the stand to Machakaire.

However, Moyo reportedly refused to accept the money and sent it back to Machipa. The accused then proceeded to allocate the complainant a stand that had already been allocated to Rukara.

Believing that he legitimately owned the stand in question, Machakaire started putting up some structures but was later advised the stand belonged to someone else. He reported the matter to ZACC leading to Machipa’s arrest.

The accused has since appeared at Mbare magistrate court and was remanded to November 14, 2024 on US$200 bail.