Zimpapers Logo

Laurel Murangaridzirayi, [email protected]

A BULAWAYO man who purported to be a clearing agent employed by Be Forward, a Japanese second-hand cars exporter, and defrauded unsuspecting car importers of a total of US$4 445, appeared in court yesterday.

Nhlanhla Ndlovu (33) of Mzilikazi appeared before the Bulawayo magistrate, Ms Nomalanga Maphosa facing two counts of fraud. He was remanded in custody to tomorrow pending a bail hearing.

Prosecuting, Ms Ashley Dube said on March 1, 2020, Ndlovu approached Ms Gugulethu Mpofu on the pretext that he was a clearing agent and she was convinced. He then offered to assist the complainant import a car from Japan.

The court heard that Mpofu allegedly paid Ndlovu US$1 400 to facilitate shipping the car from Japan.

“On 1 March 2020, the complainant gave the accused person US$1 400 as payment to facilitate shipping her car from Japan. This was after Ndlovu had misrepresented to her as a clearance agent for Be Forward in Bulawayo,” said Ms Dube.

The court heard that Ndlovu failed to deliver the car to Mpofu despite receiving the money.

Ndlovu also allegedly duped Josephine Sibanda US$ 3 045 who had approached him for his services.

“Sometimes in February 2021, the complainant Josephine Sibanda was looking for a vehicle to buy. She and her husband went to Pioneer House where they met the accused who introduced himself agent for Be Forward,” said Ms Dube.

Ndlovu managed to convince the couple that he could assist them to secure a kombi from Japan at a cost of US$5 000.

The accused person and Sibanda agreed that the money was going to be paid in instalments. The complainant started paying the money from February 2021 to April 2022.

“When the complainant wanted to pay the last instalments, Ndlovu was no longer cooperating resulting in Sibanda demanding her money back. The accused person then went into hiding and started avoiding the complainant,” said Ms Dube.

A report was made to the police leading to Ndlovu’s arrest and nothing was recovered.