Amani lost the money to John Levandale (49) and Charles
Hamadziripi (44), who posed as real estate agents and sold him a non-existent
stand in Hopley. Levandale and
Hamadziripi last week appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court facing fraud
charges.
Magistrate Mr Richard Mangosi remanded them to April 27 on
$50 000 bail each. Mr Richard Mapanga, prosecuting, said sometime in January
this year, Levandale, Hamadziripi, Alfonse Muzambi and Signal Robert
Chinopikiti got word that Amani was looking for a commercial stand to buy in
Harare.
The quartet then approached Amani saying they were real
estate agents and were selling a commercial stand at No.10 Grobbie Park,
Hopley. They allegedly lied to Amani that they were selling the commercial
stand on behalf of Syderstone Investments (Pvt) Limited.
Muzambi and Chinopikiti are still at large, according to
the State. Amani expressed interest in purchasing the stand and requested to
view it.
Chinopikiti allegedly took Amani and his team to Hopley
where they showed them a stand whose purchase price was pegged at US$300 000. Amani
is said to have bargained for a price of US$250 000 and the suspected
con-artists agreed.
The businessman engaged his lawyer to verify the legitimacy
of the stand before payment could be made. The court heard that Levandale,
Hamadziripi, Muzambi and Chinopikiti met Amani’s lawyer at a Harare hotel where
they exchanged documents relating to the stand.
During the meeting, Levandale passed himself as Patel
Aashish Dinker, the director of Syderstone Investments. He allegedly gave
Amani’s lawyer a fake identity card.
His alleged accomplices also posed as directors of
Syderstone Investments and provided fake IDs.
The court heard that Levandale gave Amani’s lawyer a fake
letter of resolution authorising Patel Aaashish Dinker to represent the company
in the sale of the stand.
Levandale allegedly gave Amani’s lawyer the company’s
documents and a copy of Deed of Transfer for the stand. Mr Mapanga said Amani’s
lawyer did the due diligence check but failed to pick any anomalies.
On February 4, Amani paid US$100 000 towards the purchase
of the stand and promised that the balance would be paid after acquiring the
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) Capital Gains Tax assessment fee.
The quartet acknowledged the payment and signed for the
money. On February 19, Amani received the Zimra Capital Gains Tax assessment
which was pegged at US$12 500 and was due on March 20.
The court heard that Amani invited the quartet to his
lawyer’s office where he paid another US$135 000 towards the purchase of the
commercial stand. An agreement of sale was signed between Syderstone
Investments, represented by Levandale, and Amani Enterprises.
After signing the deal, Amani’s lawyer returned the
national identification cards and documents used during due diligence to
Levandale.
Amani later discovered that he paid for a stand that did
not belong to the quartet and that fake documents were used in the transaction.
Levandale and Hamadziripi were arrested and found with
US$20 000 each. Herald
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