Man in court for $97k fraud

Prosper Dembedza Court Correspondent
A Harare man has appeared in court for allegedly duping Plant and Equipment International of $97 000 in a botched cash deal.

Patrick Mutenha was facing fraud charges when he appeared before magistrate Mr Tendai Mahwe.

He was granted $1 000 bail.

As part of his bail conditions, he was ordered to surrender his passport to the clerk of court, continue residing at his given address, not to interfere with State witnesses and to report once every Monday at CID serious frauds.

Allegations are that on June 13 this year, the company, through its manager, wanted to buy construction tippers but did not have cash. The court heard that a man representing Plant and Equipment International, Craid Manuel, approached Mutenha, who indicated that he could provide cash if complainant transferred money into his bank account.

It is alleged that Manuel provided the complainant with the accused’s Barclays Bank, Highlands Branch account number.

It is the State’s case that on the same day, the complainant’s director made a bank transfer of $97 500 from the company’s account into Mutenha’s account and he confirmed receipt of the money.

It is alleged that Mutenha later said he was unable to get cash that day and promised to get it the following day.

On June 14, Mutenha told the complainant that he had failed to get cash and that his account had been frozen. He assured the complainant that he would get his cash the following day. The following day the complainant phoned Mutenha, who indicated that his account had been frozen by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

The court heard that the complainant got suspicious and went to Barclays Bank intending to reverse the transaction and was told by bank officials that the money had been withdrawn by Mutenha and that only $2 000 was left in the account.