Rutendo Ngara
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Conman dupes relative of $29m
HARARE regional magistrate Francis Mapfumo on Friday convicted a man who duped his brother-in-law of $29 million in a joint estate investment deal.
He is set to be sentenced on April 22. Tendai Jemwa defrauded his brother-in-law, Thomas Masango, following their joint investment which resulted in the acquisition of an estate in Spitzkop, Harare, in 2007.
Mapfumo ruled that the State managed to establish a case against Jemwa, adding that evidence before the court showed that he changed ownership of the property without Masango’s consent.
Prosecutor Ephraim Zinyandu proved that sometime in 2007, Masango entered into various verbal business ventures with Jemwa as partners.
Tendayi Jemwa, the owner of prominent schools in and around Harare under the Philadelphia Mission Trust—including Grasslands High School, Philadelphia Junior School, Philadelphia Academy, Eyestone Junior and Senior Schools, and the well-known St Luke Jemedza High School—is reportedly still in custody following his conviction.
During the partnership, they acquired several properties, including 58 Spitzkop, Snake Park, Harare.
Both parties bought the property from Charles Zinto and contributed a purchase price of US$29 million.
Zinto allegedly intimated to the parties that he had bought the property from one Jeremiah Chamba, as indicated on the title deed, pending transfer into his name.
“By the time the parties bought the property from Zinto, it had not yet been transferred into Zinto’s name and it was still holding Chamba’s title deed …
“During the transaction, Zinto gave both parties his own agreement of sale together with the one he entered with Chamba. Both parties bought the property with the intention to register it into Ten Jem Consultants (Pvt) Ltd being a company owned by Jemwa.
To that extent Masango agreed with Jemwa that before, upon or immediately after the transfer of the property is made into Ten Jem Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, he was going to be made 50 percent shareholder and director of Ten Jem Consultants (Pvt) Ltd in ratification of their earlier agreement,” the State proved.
The court heard that sometime in 2012, Jemwa allegedly defrauded Masango of ownership of the property by secretly collecting the file containing all transfer documents and agreements from their lawyer without his knowledge or consent.
