daniel chigunwe
Zvikomborero Parafini
THE trial of a group of businessmen, which include Harare lawyer Tinofara Hove, who are being accused of allegedly stealing a couple’s low density stand worth US$97 000, will get underway on March 10.
The other accused men in the fraud case are controversial businessman Prosper Bizwork, Samson Mushayi, Erick Ndamuka Dube, Tedious Marufu, Amos Chisvo and Patience Nhope.
They all appeared before magistrate Tilda Mazhande yesterday.
The court heard that in 2023, the gang targeted businessman Octavious Chikonyora and his wife Previous Danda.
Chikonyora and his wife run nightclubs under the Paramount franchise.
The State alleges the gang went on to illegally advertise the stand, known as 589 Rietfontein Township of Lot 15 Rietfontein, Harare.
The State claims Bizwork is the suspected mastermind of the scam.
He allegedly hired two individuals, Nhope and another one known only as Collen, to act as the purported owners and sellers of the stand.
He facilitated the generation of fictitious identity cards in the name of Danda and Chikonyora.
The State claims Bizwork allegedly went on to incorporate Marufu into the deal and tasked him to look for an agent to sell the house.
Marufu later on introduced Chisvo and Ndamuka as agents to sell the house.
Investigations established that Samson Mushayi, who is a former conveyancing clerk at Hove’s law firm, TK Hove and Partners, went on to create a duplicate title deed which was used to sell the stand.
The State claims he facilitated the ZIMRA interviews and the transfer of the property into the name of the buyers.
Dube went on to advertise the stand, using the name Raphael Dube, under a marketing company called Rockwell Land Developers, for US$92 000.
The unsuspecting buyers – Max Merit Msutu and Tario Chingaya – engaged Dube and arranged a meeting with the purported owners of the property.
Dube highlighted that for the purpose of transferring the deed of property, the conveyancing was strictly going to be done by TK Hove and Partners law firm.
Convinced, Msutu and Chingaya paid a total of US$97 500 to the gang.
The payment was made in two installments and was acknowledged by Mushayi, the former clerk at TK Hove Practitioners.Investigations further established that TK Hove and Partners did not have the original title deed of the property and a fake one had been made.Anesu Chirenje appeared for the State.
