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A suspected bogus Harare businessman who allegedly duped an unsuspecting man of his 30 tonnes of fertilizer appeared in court on Saturday.
Dereck Dumisani Rugedhla was facing fraud charges when he appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Yeukai Dzuda for trial.
Allegations against him are that sometime in early April 2019, complainant Albert Mubaiwa wanted 15 tonnes of compound D fertilizer, and he contacted the accused person whom he heard was supplying fertilizers.
It is alleged Rugedhla then assured Mubaiwa that he had 30 tonnes of the fertilizer he was looking for.
It is the State’s case that on April 11, that same year Mubaiwa transferred $30 000 into Rugedhla’s First Capital Bank account from his Cabs Bank account.
The accused person acknowledged receipt of the money to the complainant whom he promised to deliver the fertilizer.
The complainant contacted the accused person several times asking for his fertilizer but the accused person was evasive and continued giving the complainant endless promises up until he was no longer answering calls from the complainant.
The court heard that the complainant suffered prejudice of more than $30 000 and nothing was recovered.
While testifying during the trial Mubaiwa told magistrate Dzuda that Rugedhla had told him that he has fertilizer at his farm in Bindura.
He said he was then asked by Rugedhla to hire a truck to collect the fertilizer and he did so but he started giving excuses despite him hiring the truck.
He said the truck left Bindura after several days of waiting for him and the fertilizer but to no avail.
Mubaiwa told the magistrate that after confronting Rugedhla’s wife he was then told that the accused was outside the country to South Korea and that led him to file a police report after discovering that he was duped. Herald
