A Waterfalls man was yesterday dragged to court after he reportedly duped popular media personality Musorowegomo Mukosi of US$1600 in a botched deal.
The suspect Tinashe Chirawo 31, was not asked to plead when
he appeared before Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi.
Chirawo is a pegger whose operations are regulated by the
Ministry of mines and mineral act and is responsible for pegging, verifications
and registration of mining blocks in liaison with the ministry of mines
officials.
The court heard that in January, Mukosi was looking for the
services of a pegger as he wanted to register three blocks of his mine in Odzi
and was introduced to Chirawo’s accomplice Jonathan Chirawo who is still at
large.
It is alleged that in mid-May Mukosi met with Jonathan at
his office near Jameson Hotel in Harare and he confirmed that he is a
registered pegger with the ministry of mines.
Jonathan demanded US$300 per block for ascertaining the
availability, verification and registration of the blocks in Odzi district with
the ministry of mines and he was paid a deposit of US$100 and an outstanding
balance of US$800 was to be paid after the issuance of the certificate of
registration by the ministry of mines.
On May 28, Jonathan contacted Mukosi and informed him that
he had visited the blocks in Odzi and verified with the ministry of mines that
they were vacant and available for registration.
He further advised Mukosi that he required US$1500 for
purposes of registration of the three blocks by the ministry and on the same
day he sent Tinashe to collect US$1500 from Mukosi at Monomotapa Hotel and
instructed his driver Tichaona Kasena to accompany him to Mutare Mines office
to ensure that the money was receipted.
On arrival at the office Kasena was instructed by Tinashe
to remain in the car as he made the payments inside the office but was shown no
receipt.
When Tinashe returned, he told Mukosi that he had made the
payment and was going to be issued with the certificate of registration in a
few days but it never materialized.
Mukosi demanded for the proof of payment from the two
brothers and it was never made available prompting him to visit the mines
ministry offices where he was advised that the prices per block were US$100
each and that he had been duped as no payments had been made to the ministry.
Mukosi suffered an actual prejudice of US$1600 and nothing
was recovered. H Metro
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