Former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) television presenter Oscar Pambuka and his two colleagues were on Wednesday convicted on charges of attempting to defraud a Harare-based transporter of R36 000.
Pambuka, Elmore Mwenye, and Ngonidzashe Mbauya, who is in the transport business, were convicted when they appeared at the Mbare Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 18 January.
Pambuka, working in cahoots with his colleagues, misrepresented to Gibson Mazhangara, who runs Gimatar Logistics, that he was Mr. Chingwena, Croco Motors director, and wanted advance money to pay for shipment of his motor spare parts in South Africa.
The trio was convicted on fraud charges.
Prosecutor Vimbai Makamure told the court that on 15 November 2022, Pambuka, who was masquerading as Croco Motors’ marketing manager and representing Mr Chingwena, called Mr Mazhangara using a South African number.
He claimed that Chingwena was engaged in a meeting and they wanted R36 000 as an advance payment for shipping spare parts from South Africa.
The court heard that Pambuka then asked Mazhangara to deposit the money into J Velem Enterprises trading as Ulphostery Trading’s FNB Bank account in South Africa.
He also told Mazhangira that he would receive the equivalent of R36 000 in United States dollars in the country.
Mazhangira became suspicious and went to confirm with Croco Motors who indicated that they had no containers of spare parts in South Africa waiting for shipment.
He then reported the matter to the police leading to the arrest of Pambuka, Mbauya and Mwenye.
Mbare magistrate Nyasha Vitorini remanded them in custody to tomorrow for sentencing. | The Herald