Four men who defrauded an Ilanda woman of R1 300 and $104 after impersonating police officers tracking down a conman, have each been slapped with a 12-month jail term.
STAFF REPORTER
Shepherd Nyathi (29), William Manda (34), Amos Mutasa (45) and Timothy Kumbula (39) all of Lobengula in Bulawayo, defrauded Princess Moyo (23) after they duped her by swopping money that was in her handbag for old Zimbabwe dollar notes.
They pleaded not guilty to fraud when they appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Merlyn Mutshina, but they were convicted and sentenced to 18 months in jail each.
Nyathi, Manda and Kumbula had six months of the sentence suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.
But Mutasa had three months suspended from a previous conviction restored.
On June 1, Nyathi met Moyo at Parkade Centre in the city and proposed love to her, but she refused.
Moyo was going to corner 12th Avenue and Samuel Parirenyatwa Street to board transport to Ilanda and Nyathi followed her.
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Mutasa, Manda and Kumbula found the two near the National Free Library and they introduced themselves as police officers.
The three claimed they had obtained information that Nyathi had picked up some money and shared with Moyo.
They demanded that Nyathi and Moyo should produce the money before they grabbed the complainant’s handbag.
The bogus cops took away R1 300 and $104 in Moyo’s handbag and replaced it with old Zimbabwe dollar notes wrapped up in a $1 note.
After realising that she had been robbed, Moyo made a report to the police, leading to the arrest of the four and all the money was recovered.
