Man in court for US$11 000 theft of trust property

Musawenkosi Moyo
A 61-YEAR-OLD man has appeared before a Western Commonage magistrate charged with theft of trust property after he sold a house on behalf of a man living in Australia and pocketed US$11 000 from the sale.

Casper Mutenda was not asked to enter a plea when he appeared before magistrate Archie Wochiwunga, and the matter was remanded to April 2.

Allegations are that sometime in 2021, the complainant, George Riva (64), tasked Mutenda to sell his house in Njube suburb for US$22 000 and depositing the money into his account.

It is alleged that Mutenda sold the house for US$22 000 to Lucky Khumalo and received the full amount.

However, instead of depositing the entire sum into Riva’s account, the accused only deposited half of the money and converted the other half for his own use.

The court heard that Mutenda misled the complainant, stating that he would deposit the remaining US$11 000 when Khumalo paid him the balance.

The matter came to light when Riva returned from Australia and found Khumalo occupying his house. Khumalo informed him that he had paid Mutenda the full amount and provided proof of payment.

When the complainant contacted Mutenda, he began evading him and ignoring his calls until the matter was reported to the police, leading to his arrest.