Man scammed in gold deal

Yeukai Karengezeka

Court Correspondent

Three men appeared in court yesterday accused of defrauding a man of gold worth US$1 858 by swapping a button of gold they had just smelted for a counterfeit one.

Aleck Ngoni Pangazira (38), Simbarashe Karimupfumbi (47), and Jeremiah Mutizamhuka (52) were charged with fraud when they appeared before Harare Magistrate Mr Isheunesu Matova.

They were remanded on US$100 bail each to February 26.

Prosecutor Mr Rufaro Chonzi alleged that on January 24, the complainant and Pangazira had alluvial gold they had collected through panning. Pangazira, in collaboration with Mutizamhuka, took the gold to Karimupfumbi’s place of business to have it smelted.

Karimupfumbi processed the gold and handed the smelted gold button, wrapped in paper, to a fourth suspect only identified as Nyasha, who remains at large.

During this process, Nyasha allegedly swapped the original gold button with a counterfeit one, which was similarly wrapped, and handed it back to the complainant.

The complainant later discovered the fraud when attempting to deposit the gold at Fidelity Gold Refineries.