Punishment for fraudster who tried to scam police

LANGTON MADARA, the director of Preperco Investments, deserves a standing ovation for his audacious attempt to pull a fast one on (drum roll, please) the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP).

Yes, you read that right — the ZRP!

Madara thought he could wring a cool US$1,6 million out of the very people whose job is to catch his ilk. It all started when ZRP advertised for suppliers of bond paper in 2022.

Smelling a golden opportunity, Madara decided he was the man for the job.

The police duly awarded him the tender.

But, of course, this was not just a regular job.

Madara had a plan that would make any con artist shake their head in disbelief.

In January last year, he signed a contract with the police — no doubt with a smug grin on his face, thinking he was about to pull off the deal of a lifetime.

This contract, however, had a small clause: Before ZRP could hand over an advance of 15 percent, Madara needed to provide a legitimate bank guarantee. Seems straightforward, right?

Well, not for Madara!

He apparently decided to skip the trip to the bank and instead whipped up his own guarantee, complete with a doctored letterhead and counterfeit FBC Bank stamp.

But here is where this whole plan collapsed.

Rather than just hand over the cash, the police decided to do their due diligence and verify this so-called bank guarantee.

A quick call to FBC Bank was all it took to expose the fraudulent document.

The bank promptly disowned it, highlighting that both the letterhead and date stamp were as fake as Madara’s audacity.

With the jig up, Madara found himself in court facing the music.

In fact, Madara rudely discovered kuti haazi mudhara. Prosecutor Mr Tendai Tapi painted a picture of a man trying to scam his way to riches by hoodwinking the police — an almost laughable act if it were not so brazen.

Last week, Harare magistrate Mr Clever Tsikwa condemned Madara to 36 months behind bars.

But, perhaps showing a bit of mercy for Madara’s unique brand of creativity, he suspended half of it, with the remainder to be worked off in 630 hours of community service.

And so, our mampara walks “free” — albeit with some hours to clock at the Glen View Polyclinic — having learned a valuable lesson: When it comes to trying to scam the police, there is a thin line between being gutsy and plain ridiculous.