HARARE – Zanu PF legislator Dexter Nduna on Thursday told a court how he lost R535,000 to Genius Kadungure and Wicknell Chivayo in an elaborate con in 2012.
Nduna said he had been blacklisted by banks after borrowing money to buy mining equipment which he thought he was supplying to Marange Resources in Chiadzwa.
In reality, a court heard, he had fallen victim to a swindle masterminded by the two men, famous for flaunting their wealth online.
“My business was doing well. But now the banks don’t trust me because I could not pay back the loan as planned. They brought me down,” the Chegutu West MP told.
Kadungure and Chivayo are accused of defrauding Nduna and another man, Evon Gatawa, in separate incidents.
They posed as procurement agents of Marange Diamonds, it is alleged. They asked Nduna and Gatawa to supply some mining equipment, but before doing so, they had created fictitious companies registered in South Africa complete with bank accounts, websites and landline numbers.
Nduna and Gatawa, magistrate Morgen Nemadire heard, were then advised that Marange Diamonds’ recommended supplier was the companies the duo had registered.
Nduna deposited R535,000 into a company account for Always on Pumps after being given an order for 20 T-90 Transco-Flo Helical Rotor pumps, while Gatawa, who lost R1 million, was referred to a bogus company called Transco Engineering for his order of 10 T-90 Transco-Flo Helical Rotor pumps.
“The profit margin convinced me,” Nduna said. “The profit was above 50 percent. I had $65,000 which translated to R335,000 on me so I wasn’t worried to use it.
“I thought I was dealing with genuine people because all the communication emails were captioned, ‘Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me’.
“When the parcel was delivered later, I realised I had been duped. It struck me like lightning coming in three dimensions (sic).”
Nduna told the court that it took him a long time to report the case since he was still mourning the death of his two children Nqobile and Makomborero in a road traffic accident in July 2012. He only reported the fraud two years later, both in Zimbabwe and in South Africa.
He said the ABSA bank account of Always on Pumps had been quickly closed, the website taken down and the phones were no longer going through.
Prosecutor Ephraim Zinyandu said the company belonged to Kadungure and Chivayo.
Nduna also told court that after reporting the swindle, Kadungure had called him saying Chivayo was the one who stole his money.
“He (Kadungure) confessed having stolen money from Gatawa, but said he did not take my money.”
On Tuesday, Kadungure admitted in court that he had received R500,000 from Chivayo through a third party, a foreign currency dealer only named as D. Kabwebwe, but insisted he did not know that it was stolen.
Kabwebwe said Kadungure had called her looking for R500,000 in South Africa intending to buy wholesale gas. Kadungure had the equivalent amount in United States dollars in Zimbabwe.
She testified that she knew Chivayo had money in South Africa, and called him to arrange the exchange. Kadungure, she told court, had later called her fuming that she had given him stolen money.
Gatawa, meanwhile, testified that Kadungure had approached him and promised to pay him $50,000 so that he would drop charges, but he had only paid $20,000. Kadungure said he only agreed to pay to make the charges go away.
Kadungure, represented by Jonathan Samukange, is shifting the blame to Chivayo, who is represented by Advocate Lewis Uriri. Chivayo says he is ignorant of the alleged transactions and no evidence has been presented so far linking him to a crime.
In the dock, the two men sat at extreme ends and did not speak to each other.
The trial continues.
