A Zvishavane man lost US$15,000 to con artists in Harare who used a hoax known in Shona as “chadonha.” In this scheme, scammers drop a bundle of banknotes in the path of their victim.
According to ZimLive, when the victim picks up the money, believing they’ve found it by chance, they are confronted by the scammers who claim they saw it first.
The scammers then lure the victim to a secluded place under the pretext of sharing the money, where the victim ends up losing both the bait money and their own cash.
In this case, the victim was Luckson Daka, aged 43. One of the suspects, Wellington Nhiwatiwa, 46, appeared before Harare provincial magistrate Isheanesu Matova, charged with fraud.
Nhiwatiwa challenged his placement on remand and was expected back in court on Thursday for a ruling on his application.
Prosecutor Takudzwa Jambawu alleged that on November 19 this year, Nhiwatiwa and seven other suspects, who are still at large, approached Daka as he got off an Inter-Africa bus from Zvishavane.
They dropped a bundle of fake notes wrapped in plastic in front of him.
The court heard that they lured Daka to the Harare Kopje mountain, claiming they would share the money with him.
While at the Kopje, another group of five men appeared, pretending to be police officers.
They reportedly took US$15,000 from Daka’s satchel and vanished.
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