Duped Bulawayo homeseeker sues fraud convict lawyer

Disgraced Bulawayo lawyer Tungamirai Nyengera and his employer, Herbert Shenje, allegedly teamed up with a bogus property owner and defrauded a home seeker of $25 000.

They allegedly forged title deeds and sold a Bellevue suburb house they did not own to Mr Bvumazvipere Siwawa.

Nyengera was deregistered from practising law in 2014 after being convicted of fraud following his connivance with a prison guard to unlawfully release a convict.

Mr Siwawa filed summons at the Bulawayo High Court citing Nyengera, Bradley Brunt who purported to be the owner of the property, Shenje and his law firm, Shenje and Company, as defendants.

He is seeking an order directing the defendants to refund him $25 000 and the legal costs he incurred.

Brunt allegedly connived with Nyengera to swindle Mr Siwawa of Emganwini suburb by selling him a house they did not own for $50 000.

According to papers before the court, Brunt posed as the owner of the house and produced fake identity documents of the actual owner.

They sold the house to the unsuspecting Mr Siwawa who paid them $25 000 as down payment which gave him access to the house in the hope that the full payment was going to be completed within an agreed period.

In his plaintiff’s declaration, Mr Siwawa said the sale was between himself and Brunt who purported to be the owner of the house.

“Prior to the signing of the agreement of sale, Shenje and Company through first defendant (Nyengera) was instructed to investigate and satisfy themselves as to the propriety of all the identification documents relating to the house and owner of the property,” he said.

Mr Siwawa said the law firm failed to conduct due diligence and ensure that nothing would hinder the transfer of rights of the property.

“After the signing of the documents, it turned out that the owner of the property, one Mr Charles Vicky Westerfalls, did not enter into any agreement of sale with plaintiff,” he said.

Mr Siwawa said after the agreement of sale, it emerged that Nyengera was in possession of fake title deeds.

“The first defendant did not conduct any deeds search at the Registrar of Deeds offices to verify the authenticity of the title deeds he was in possession of,” he said.

Three other suspects linked to the fraud scandal, including Brunt, were last month arrested in connection with the scam.

These are Frank Matare (36), Sithabile Dlodlo (64) and Elphas Ncube.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango said although Nyengera was not arrested, his involvement in the case is being investigated.

When Brunt vanished, Mr Siwawa visited the property he had bought. He found the house being renovated and when he contacted the neighbours they told him that its owner stayed in Masvingo.

That is when Mr Siwawa reported the matter to the police, leading to the suspects’ arrest. The Chronicle