A Waterfalls man appeared before Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi on Monday facing a charge of defrauding Old Mutual of US$90 000 through a fake insurance claim, NewsDay reported.
The accused, Henrics Providence Dhonga (30) from Mainway Meadows faces two counts of fraud and illegal possession of articles for criminal use. He was remanded in custody until today for a bail hearing.
Dhonga, an employee at Bright Insurance Brokers Private Limited, is co-accused with two accomplices, Llyod Makuzva (45) and Reality Njabulo Chuma (30).
What happened:
It is alleged that in May 2022, Dhonga was approached by Munyaradzi Ramewa, still at large, who wanted compensation for his vehicle which was involved in an accident a long time ago and was parked at a house in Mutare.
On August 14, 2022, Dhonga, Makuvaza and Chuma proceeded to Mutare where they met Ramewa and staged an accident involving the VW Touareg motor vehicle.
They reported the staged accident to the police in Mutare, and Road Angels towed the vehicle.
On September 20, 2022, they made a fraudulent claim through Dhonga saying the vehicle was severely damaged on the front, suspension, engine and gearbox.
Old Mutual Insurance Company processed a claim for US$90 000.
The fraud came to light when Old Mutual discovered that the photographs the accused persons sent were different from the ones submitted by Road Angeles which towed the vehicle from the scene.
It was also discovered that Dhonga, a director at Panel Tech Motors, was involved in more insurance fraud cases.
Police searched his Mazda CX5 vehicle on Saturday and recovered a backpack with 11 homemade police stamps for different police stations in Chitungwiza, Chegutu, Harare, Marondera and Norton.