Bulawayo socialite Brendon Shoko, popularly known as “Brizzy,” his girlfriend and an accomplice have each been fined US$400 or face four months in prison for swindling a local woman of US$520, which was intended for her son’s school fees, by forging bank deposit slips.
The trio was
given until April 25 to pay back the money.
They were
further sentenced to four months, which were wholly suspended for five years on
condition that they do not commit a similar offence within that period.
Shoko (28), his
girlfriend, Priscah Chipeta (38), and Knowledge Mhlanga (41) were convicted of
two counts of forgery by Bulawayo magistrate Mr Maxwell Ncube.
In passing
sentence, Mr Ncube took into consideration that the trio pleaded guilty and did
not waste the court’s time and the fact that they were first-time offenders.
The trio forged
CBZ deposit slips to falsely claim that Ms Phethekile Madonko’s son’s school
fees at Gloag High School had been paid. Instead of depositing the money, they
converted it for personal use and created fake CBZ deposit slips to mislead Ms
Madonko. The scheme was uncovered when the school contacted Ms Madonko about
unpaid fees, prompting her to file a police report.
The prosecutor,
Ms Mufaro Ndirayire, said the first incident occurred on 7 February, when Ms
Madonko handed Chipeta US$350 to deposit into the school’s account. Chipeta
then approached Shoko, who enlisted Mhlanga to forge a deposit slip using a
fake stamp and printed confirmation slip. A second incident followed on 20
February, involving US$210, which Chipeta again failed to deposit.
“Chipeta then
approached Shoko and asked for a forged CBZ deposit slip. Shoko then engaged
the services of Mhlanga, who forged the slip by designing a fake stamp and
printing a CBZ bank confirmation of cash deposit slip,” said Ms Ndirayire.
They were
represented by lawyer, Simon Mutandi of Sandi and Matshakaile Attorneys who
pleaded for leniency, citing their status as first-time offenders and noting
that they had compensated the complainant.
Chipeta faces
additional charges of theft of trust property and fraud in connection with
violating a trust agreement with Ms Madonko and misrepresenting the payment of
school fees to Gloag High School. These charges stem from her role in producing
fake deposit slips and deceiving both Ms Madonko and the school administration.
Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment