Online Reporter
Danisa Masuku [email protected]
A serial fraudster currently serving an eight-year prison sentence has appeared in court on fresh fraud charges after allegedly duping a prospective home buyer out of US$5 000 through the sale of a non-existent residential stand in Bulawayo’s Nkulumane suburb.
Elliot Mharadze, who is jointly charged with Claudious Manamela, appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate Ms Patience Ururu facing fraud charges. The matter was remanded to July 14 for continuation of trial.
Both accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Mharadze is representing himself, while Manamela is represented by Mr Bruce Israel Masamvu of Masamvu and Da Silva-Gustavo Law Chambers.
In his defence, Manamela distanced himself from the alleged fraud, arguing through his lawyer that he neither transacted with the complainant nor received any money from her.
“The complainant dealt exclusively with Mharadze and should recover her money from him. She herself testified before this court that she never transacted with my client, so there is no basis for his inclusion in these proceedings,” argued Mr Masamvu.
Prosecuting, Ms Concilia Ncube told the court that in 2019 the complainant, who was seeking to purchase a residential stand, was referred to Mharadze by one Cornelius Edwards.
According to the State, Mharadze represented that he was selling a 200-square-metre residential stand in Nkulumane for US$5 000.
“The complainant and Mharadze entered into an agreement of sale on October 10, 2019. Mharadze executed an affidavit confirming the sale, while Cornelius Edwards prepared the agreement of sale,” Ms Ncube told the court.
The complainant allegedly paid a deposit of US$3 500 and was issued with an acknowledgement of receipt.
After securing the outstanding US$1 500, she allegedly paid the balance to Mharadze, who subsequently handed her receipts which he claimed had been issued by Manamela, from whom he purportedly purchased the stand.
The court heard that Mharadze later accompanied the complainant to Manamela’s offices for the transfer of ownership of the property.
However, the transfer was never effected.
The complainant later discovered that the residential stand in question did not exist and reported the matter to the police.
Investigations conducted by detectives from the Commercial Crimes Division (CCD) in Bulawayo allegedly established that there was no official record of the stand Mharadze had purported to be selling in Nkulumane.
The complainant is alleged to have suffered actual prejudice amounting to US$5 000 and no recoveries have been made.
