A MAN from Harare suspected of defrauding a civil servant through a loan scam appeared in court yesterday facing fraud charges.
Wylie Ligomeka (41) was released on $50 000 bail when he appeared before Harare provincial magistrate Mr Dennis Mangosi.
He was forbidden from interfering with the State witnesses and ordered to report to Kuwadzana 2 Police Station every Friday. He was not asked to plead and he was remanded to April 20 pending investigations.
Mr Chirima Masaire is the complainant in this matter.
The court heard that on December 28 last year, Ligomeka and his accomplice Robson Kaombe, who is still at large, lied to Mr Masaire that their company, Tatalita Investments, was giving loans to civil servants.
Mr Masaire told Ligomeka that he wanted a loan of US$700 and offered to repay over nine months. Ligomeka said the loan should be repaid through monthly bank stop-order deductions of US$113 over 12 months.
He then requested Mr Masaire to supply his name, surname, address, employee code number, National Registration number, and cellphone number which they wanted to use in applying for the loan.
The two accomplices then forged some application forms for acquiring a laptop using Mr Masaire’s particulars and submitted them to FBC Bank.
On the forged documents, they purported that Mr Masaire had acquired a laptop valued at US$370 from Tatalita Investments and the payment for that laptop was to be done through monthly stop order deductions of US$59,73 from Mr Masaire’s salary over 12 months.
The first deduction was effected from Mr Masaire’s February salary this year, yet Mr Masaire had received neither cash nor a laptop. He reported the matter to the police leading to the arrest of Ligomeka. – The Herald
