HARARE – A Zvishavane man lost US$15,000 to Harare con artists who stole the money from him using a common hoax known in Shona as “chadonha”.
In the trick, scammers drop a bunch of bank notes in the path of their victims who do not notice the bait at first.
When the victim picks the cash in the belief they were lucky to stumble upon some money, they are then confronted by the scammers who deceptively claim they had seen it first.
In the ensuing exchanges, the victim is then lured to a secluded place on the pretext they were going to share the money and that is where one loses both the bait money and their own cash.
The victim in this case is one Luckson Daka, aged 43.
One of the suspects involved in the scam, Wellington Nhiwatiwa, 46, appeared before Harare provincial magistrate Isheanesu Matova charged with fraud.
Nhiwatiwa challenged his placement on remand and was expected back in court on Thursday for ruling on his application.
Takudzwa Jambawu, representing the state, said the incident occurred on November 19 this year.
Nhiwatiwa and seven other suspects who are still at large approached Daka, who had just got down an Inter-Africa bus from Zvishavane.
They dropped a bunch of fake notes wrapped in a plastic in front of him.
The court heard that they managed to lure Daka to the Harare Kopje mountain, saying they were going to share the money with him.
“While at the Kopje, another group of five men appeared pretending to be police officers,” read court papers.
They reportedly took US$15,000 which was in complainant’s satchel and vanished.
