Woman jailed for $116k fraud

Prince Maposa

A 43-year-old Harare woman has been sentenced five years in prison for allegedly duping two people of $116 400 in separate deals.

Deajury Doro appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Rumbidzai Mugwagwa facing two counts of fraud and was convicted on her own plea of guilty.

Doro was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay back $40 400 to the victims within two years.

State prosecutor Mr Owen Safuri told the court that last year in September, Ruramayi Magaya received a phone call from his former business associate, who then linked him with Doro on a deal to access United States dollars.

Magaya then met Doro in Harare’s Central Business District and transferred $26 700 into the fraudster’s Steward Bank account, the court heard.

Further information shows that Doro promised to supply Magaya with the foreign currency within an hour.

“Doro failed to deliver the cash and, as a result, Magaya decided to take Doro to her bank to reverse the transaction,” Mr Safuri told the court.

Magaya then ordered Doro to transfer the money into his friend’s account.

“When Magaya inquired if the transaction had been successful, the bank advised him that it had been declined as Doro had provided incorrect banking details,” the court heard.

“Magaya then reported the matter to the police, but nothing was recovered.”

On the second count, complainant Nobukhosi Ndlovu was duped of $89 700 by Doro in a failed groundnuts deal after transferring the money to her Steward Bank account via RTGS.

Ndlovu’s friend, Silence Mwanjira, had told her that Doro was selling 74 tonnes of groundnuts.

“When the money went through, Ndlovu phoned Doro and they agreed to meet at Holiday Inn (Harare),” the court heard.

But when Ndlovu went to the hotel and tried to communicate with Doro, her number was no longer reachable.

She became suspicious and contacted her bank to reverse the transaction.

The bank informed Ndlovu that Doro had already transferred $13 700 and $76 000 was still the account. However, Ndlovu failed to recover anything. The Sunday Mail