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OpenMan Sentenced To Three Years In Jail For Forging Title Deed And Selling Former Minister’s House
Harare Magistrate Ethel Chichera has sentenced Prosper Biziweki (48) to three years in prison after convicting him of forging the title deed of former Minister of Education Dzingai Mutumbuka’s house, which was fraudulently sold in June 2021.
Biziweki will, however, serve an effective two-year jail term after Chichera suspended one year on the condition of good behaviour.
Another suspect in the fraud case, Tatenda Wakatama, was acquitted on the grounds that he only placed an advertisement for the sale of the house.
Chichera, however, criticized the police for excluding several key suspects who she said should have been arrested for the offence.
She ruled that the forgery and illegal sale of the house were carried out by a syndicate, and most of its members had been turned into State witnesses by the police.
Chichera noted that one Lynna Mlambo stole Mutumbuka’s title deed from the Deeds Office, where she worked as a supervisor, but was brought in as a State witness by investigating officer Tafadzwa Marashe.
The police could not account for Jonah Ngome, who sold Mutumbuka’s house and in whose name the forged title deed was.
How the Fraud was Executed
The court heard that in June 2021, Wakatama, Biziweki, and Ngome stole from Mutumbuka by forging the title deed for his house.
They took the original title deed for house number 90 Harare Drive in Chisipite, Harare, and created a fake title deed in Ngome’s name.
They advertised the house on social media using the fake title deed.
Harrison Marange showed interest in buying the property, with Kenias Mutyisira helping to arrange the sale.
The two parties agreed on a price of US$140,000 for the house, with US$90,000 paid upfront as a deposit and US$50,000 to be paid after the property was registered and transferred.
Marange paid Ngome US$45,000 in September 2021 as part of the deposit, with the remaining US$45,000 due in October 2021.
The police stopped the transaction after Mangwere from the Registrar’s Office confirmed that the title deed in Ngome’s name was fake.
More: NewsDay
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