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A SUSPECTED illegal migrant has been hauled to court facing fraud charges involving US$45 000.
South African national, Johannes Jacobus Conelius Naude, was remanded to November 11, when he appeared before Harare Magistrate Dennis Mangosi.
Pardon Dziva, representing the State, opposed bail citing that he had pending cases and also had the propensity to commit crime.
Circumstances are that in early December 2020, Tendai Rwodzi met Samuel Togarepi, who had approached him requesting financial assistance to buy and sell maize.
Togarepi said that he had found a South African white farmer (Johannes) who could supply maize.
On January 16 last year, Rwodzi met Naude, who introduced himself as Vikus Van Tonder, at Trek Service Station in Pomona, Borrowdale.
They agreed he was going to sell Rwodzi’s maize at US$305 per tonne.
After agreeing on the price, Rwodzi referred Naude to his partner, Evans Lufuno Mulaudzi, who is based in South Africa, and gave him his contact details for payment.
Naude immediately contacted Mulaudzi on his mobile phone.
On January 21, last year, Mulaudzi received an invoice, purportedly from a company called Grain Link Millers, of 340 tonnes of maize, through a WhatsApp message from Johannes.
The court heard that Johannes then instructed Rwodzi to deposit the payments into Powerflex Engineering FNB account 62754082271.
On January 22, Mulaudzi made payments of more than R700 000.
They agreed on the delivery of 340 tonnes of maize to Harare, packed in 50kgs.
Rwodzi was promised that the trucks would arrive on January 28.
However, nothing was delivered and nothing has been recovered.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter