Musorowegomo Mukosi duped

By Zvikomborero Parafini

A Waterfalls man was on Thursday dragged to court after he reportedly duped popular media personality Musorowegomo Mukosi of US$1600 in a botched deal.

The suspect Tinashe Chirawo 31, was not asked to plead when he appeared before Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi.

Chirawo is a pegger whose operations are regulated by the Ministry of mines and mineral act and is responsible for pegging, verifications and registration of mining blocks in liaison with the ministry of mines officials.

The court heard that in January, Mukosi was looking for the services of a pegger as he wanted to register three blocks of his mine in Odzi and was introduced to Chirawo’s accomplice Jonathan Chirawo who is still at large.

It is alleged that in mid-May Mukosi met with Jonathan at his office near Jameson Hotel in Harare and he confirmed that he is a registered pegger with the ministry of mines.

Jonathan demanded US$300 per block for ascertaining the availability, verification and registration of the blocks in Odzi district with the ministry of mines and he was paid a deposit of US$100 and an outstanding balance of US$800 was to be paid after the issuance of the certificate of registration by the ministry of mines.

On May 28, Jonathan contacted Mukosi and informed him that he had visited the blocks in Odzi and verified with the ministry of mines that they were vacant and available for registration.

He further advised Mukosi that he required US$1500 for purposes of registration of the three blocks by the ministry and on the same day he sent Tinashe to collect US$1500 from Mukosi at Monomotapa Hotel and instructed his driver Tichaona Kasena to accompany him to Mutare Mines office to ensure that the money was receipted.

On arrival at the office Kasena was instructed by Tinashe to remain in the car as he made the payments inside the office but was shown no receipt.

When Tinashe returned, he told Mukosi that he had made the payment and was going to be issued with the certificate of registration in a few days but it never materialized.

Mukosi demanded for the proof of payment from the two brothers and it was never made available prompting him to visit the mines ministry offices where he was advised that the prices per block were US$100 each and that he had been duped as no payments had been made to the ministry.

Mukosi suffered an actual prejudice of US$1600 and nothing was recovered. H-Metro