Online Reporter
Zvikomborero Parafini
A 54-year-old Chitungwiza man has appeared in court facing fraud charges after allegedly selling a residential stand twice, prejudicing the owner of US$4 500.
Salem Marata Saini was not asked to plead when he appeared before Harare magistrate Jessie Kufa.
He was released on US$200 bail.
The complainant in the matter is Fungai Chingozhora (51), of Retreat, Waterfalls, Harare.
It is the State’s case that sometime in June 2019, Saini approached the Pensioners Union Trust of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) offering to sell residential stands to its members.
He allegedly misrepresented that he had been allocated the stands by Black Empowerment Housing Cooperative as payment for carrying out development works.
On June 13, 2019, one of the union members, John Makoni, was allocated stand number 9816 Retreat, Waterfalls, measuring 1 000 square metres, through MS Resources and the housing cooperative.
Makoni later signed an agreement of sale and paid RTGS$25 000 for the stand in December 2019.
However, the court heard that Makoni relocated to Australia before developing the stand and only returned to Zimbabwe in 2022.
It is alleged that taking advantage of the situation, Saini hatched a plan and sold the same stand to Chingozhora.
Chingozhora later discovered that the stand had already been sold to Makoni before his purchase.
Efforts to contact Saini were unsuccessful as he reportedly became evasive, prompting Chingozhora to file a police report.
