President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s name has been dragged into an alleged fraud scheme after a prominent gospel singer Mambo Dhuterere’s wife, Mai Dhuterere, used his name to falsely claim she had a waiver to import vehicles duty-free.
Mai Dhuterere was arrested on fraud charges and appeared before the Harare Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning.
According to allegations, Mai Dhuterere and her accomplice, her brother Kudakwashe Vambe, misrepresented to the complainant that they had a Toyota Hilux GD6 on sale.
They allegedly promised the complainant two vehicles for US$16,000 and falsely claimed that Mai Dhuterere had a waiver from Mnangagwa to import vehicles duty-free.
“They also misrepresented that the singer had a waiver “courtesy of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe for singing for the nation” and they could bring the vehicles to Zimbabwe duty-free,” the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement.
The complainant handed over US$16,000 to Mai Dhuterere, who receipted the payment in the form of an affidavit, committing to deliver the vehicles within two weeks.
Mai Dhuterere, however, failed to deliver the vehicles, instead providing the complainant with a Ford Ranger registered in Botswana. She, reportedly, promised to give him another car, a Mercedes Benz C200, at a later date.
The Ford Ranger was eventually impounded by the police for being used without a valid temporary permit.
Mai Dhuterere was granted US$100 bail.
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