Some 53 nurse aid students in Harare were duped of more than US$46 000 as they sought to get sponsorship certificates in order for them to emigrate and work in the United Kingdom.
Tatenda McDonald Pfende, (27), who appeared before magistrate Dennis Mangosi, on Monday was charged with fraud.
Pfende was granted US$300 bail and remanded to November 20 for routine remand.
lt is the state’s case that sometime in May, Pfende and his accomplice, Daphne Edwards, who is still at large, approached Blessing Gwengwe, who is an Education and Employment agent, and told him that he could help his students get a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) each, that would allow them to be employed in the UK.
The state alleges that the accused then requested from the complainant to refer to him 53 applicants for the sponsorship and charged US$850 for each applicant for the service.
lt is alleged that acting on the misrepresentation, the complainant collected a total of US$46 000 from his 53 students and sent the money using Mukuru and Access Forex into the accused person’s supplied account.
After receiving the transferred money the accused became unreachable.
The complainant then started to reimburse the money he received from his students and then reported the matter to police.
Pfende was arrested over the weekend after Gwengwe, who was consistently on the lookout for the alleged scammer found out that the former would be attending a family function at his home.
The state alleges that the complainant heard Pfende’s whereabouts, and Gwengwe then rushed to the police station at Fife Avenue, and reported him leading to his arrest at his home.
The complainant was prejudiced of US$46 000 and nothing was recovered.
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