A BULAWAYO man, who masqueraded as a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) official and allegedly swindled a city resident of $1 600 under the pretext that he could fast track clearance and registration of a Botswana registered vehicle in Zimbabwe, has appeared in court facing fraud charges.
SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER
Grasiano Sithole (45) was not asked to plead when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Gladmore Mushove on Monday. He was granted $100 bail and remanded to January 10 for trial.
The court heard that on October 10 last year, the complainant, Musa Ndlovu (31), of Nkulumane, who is employed by Sabbath Flea Market at the corner of Hebert Chitepo Street and 10th Avenue, met Sithole through a friend only identified as Owen.
Sithole introduced himself as a Zimra official and Ndlovu went on to inform him that he wanted to clear his sister’s Botswana-registered vehicle and register it in Zimbabwe.
Sithole allegedly asked Ndlovu to pay $1 600 for the service, but Ndlovu paid $1 400, which he had on him and gave Sithole the Botswana vehicle registration book, temporary import permit and a Botswana police clearance.
Sithole then assured Ndlovu that the registration process would be completed by November 14.
On November 14, Ndlovu met Sithole and handed over the remaining $200. Sithole advised Ndlovu to meet him at 6pm on the same day to collect his new Zimbabwe licence plates and the vehicle registration book.
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It is the State’s case that when Ndlovu later tried contacting Sithole on his mobile phone, he was suddenly unreachable. On November 27, Ndlovu used his sister’s mobile phone to contact Sithole in the presence of police officers. They managed to track and arrest him.
Nothing was recovered from the $1 600 that Ndlovu paid to Sithole.
