Senior Clerical Assistant (Administration) – Grade 5

Records Assistant

Assistant Registrar – Faculties (Gweru)

Security Guards (Gweru, Harare, Kwekwe & Zvishavane campuses)

Technical Sales Person/ Aluminium (Harare)

Regional Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Officer (Bulawayo)

Boiler Maker (Harare)

Marketing & Sales Officer (Harare)

Compliance Officer (Harare)

Safety, Health and Environment Officer (Harare)

Business Unit Manager x2 (Harare)

Vehicle Sales Consultant - JAC (Harare)

Vehicle Sales Consultant – DONG FENG (Harare)

Vehicle Sales Consultant – BAIC (Harare)

Spray Painter (Harare)

Motor Vehicle Panel Beater (Harare)

Team Leaders x7

Billing Supervisor (Harare)

Sales Representative (Harare)

Auto Electrician: Artisan (Chipinge)

Sales Representatives (Harare)

Director Human Resource (Mutare)

Assistant Batch Plant Operator (Harare)

Legal & Compliance Manager (Harare)

Processes Analyst (Harare)

Finance Manager Corporate (Harare)

Two more directors of e-Creator, a suspected Ponzi scheme that allegedly defrauded thousands of people of over US$1 million, have been granted US$1 000 bail each by the Harare Magistrates Court.
The two are Justin Kuchekenya and Abraham Mutambu.
As reported by <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/two-e-creator-fraudsters-granted-us1k-bail-each-chinese-mastermind-remains-locked-up/">NewZimbabwe.com</a>, the two were granted bail on changed circumstances, after their co-accused Trymore Tapfumaneyi was granted bail recently.
This leaves the suspected mastermind of the Ponzi scheme, a Chinese national, Zhao Jiatong, the only suspect still in remand prison.
The four were arrested in July 2023 and have been in custody after they were denied bail by Magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa on their initial appearance.
According to court papers, sometime in January 2023, Zhao created an online investment Ponzi scheme called e-Creator.
On February 7 2021 and in connivance with Tapfumaneyi, Kuchekenya, Bily Thomas Syedou, Abraham Mutambu, Jiatong allegedly registered a company with the Zimbabwean Registrar of Companies named E-Creator Electronic Commerce Private Limited.
The company had its offices situated at rooms 15 and 16 10 Floor Joina City Building, Harare.
Prosecutors alleged that Zhao went on to launch the company as an online e-commerce operator with a global internet as its core. Reads the court papers:
<blockquote>
During the period from February 2023 to July accused misrepresented to unsuspecting Zimbabwean nationals that if they invested with the company, they would enjoy huge monthly profits depending on the amount invested.
</blockquote>
The court heard Zimbabweans across the country invested up to US$1 million into the company through various Ecocash numbers supplied on the platform by the accused. Prosecutors said:
<blockquote>
To make the company more attractive and appealing to unsuspecting Zimbabweans the accused used the media including the national television broadcaster Zimbabwean Television (TV) social media and powerful Zimbabwean socialites namely Tarisai Cleopatra Munetsiwa also known as Madam Boss, and Admire Mushambi also known as Mama Vee to advertise the company business on their social media platforms in order to gain more subscribers.
</blockquote>
The suspected fraudsters also allegedly employed various agents in major towns and cities throughout the country to market the business.
It is further alleged that on July 3 2023 some of the complaints encountered challenges in accessing their funds and approached the company for clarifications.
One of the accused persons, Abraham Mutambu assured these complainants that it was a system upgrade that was preventing them from accessing the funds.
The court heard Mutambu further advised them that the situation would normalise in due course.
On July 5 2023 complainants were shocked to realise that E-Creator Electronic Commerce Private) Limited had sent a notice on their website that they are no longer operating.
The company also posted the passport photo of the accused Zhao Jiatong as the one who had taken their money and absconded to China.
The court heard that the complainants also visited the accused’s known offices and saw that they had been permanently closed and there were no signs of business operations.
They received information that the accused person had withdrawn the money and fled.
As a result of the accused’s actions, complainants suffered an actual prejudice of US$1 000 000 and nothing was recovered.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

Two E-Creator Directors Granted US$1 000 Bail Each

Detective Assistant Inspector Tom Muleya, a member of the CID Commercial Crimes Division and the National Cyber Security Awareness Taskforce in Zimbabwe, has expressed concern over the increasing prevalence of pyramid scams despite repeated warnings from law enforcement and regulatory authorities. In July 2023, the country witnessed one of the largest pyramid scams in history, known as E-Creator, which resulted in substantial financial losses for numerous participants.
Muleya emphasises that pyramid scams are being presented in various attractive and deceptive forms, making them all the more enticing. Despite the proactive measures taken by the police to alert the public earlier in the year, many individuals have chosen to disregard these warnings, leading to a rising number of victims. More than 550 people have already fallen prey to the scam, with additional reports still coming in.
According to Muleya, the question that arises is: why do people continue to fall for pyramid scams despite being educated and warned about their dangers? He says the persistence of pyramid scams stems from a combination of factors, including misconceptions about law enforcement’s intentions, gullibility, greediness, ignorance, deliberate violation of the law, the influence of social media, and the exploitation of individuals benefiting from the fraud. He says:
<blockquote>
One of reason is that people think the police does not want them to make money and realise profits.
In other ways people give a deaf ear to the free education and warning on crime awareness because they view and think the police are interfering with their opportunity to make huge profits .
The other reason is gullibility or greediness. Elwyn Brooks White once said, “People are very gullible. They will believe anything they see in print.”
Let me also try to go biblical because I believe everything that happens under the sun is already in the Bible.
It said in the book of 1Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil [crime]: which while some coveted after [gullibility], they have erred from faith [business principles], and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” [became victims due to own actions], emphasis in brackets mine.
So you see, gullibility which is that oversized ego or desire for money is reason victims abound.
Some people become victims due to ignorance, which may be ignorance to law, or ignorance as to nature of business. People then take chances even though they may be evident manifestation of risk or danger of losing out, in the purported “make quick money investment”.
On another hand, it is not even ignorance but deliberate violation of law. People know the scheme is illegally yet they continue to take part.
Social media evades people’s reasoning. The fact that something is advertised on social media, people fall for it. Even the smallest lie is greatly valued on social media.
The other reason is due to the fact that certain individuals who are used as bait in pyramid fraud actually get some benefits. So their testimony is used to convince more others who are then scammed.
</blockquote>
Muleya says to combat these scams effectively, it is crucial for individuals to actively participate in the fight against fraud and cybercrimes, creating a safe and crime-free environment in Zimbabwe.
<ul>
<li>Feedback to Detective Assistant Inspector Tom Muleya: WhatsApp line: 0772 764 043, or e-mail:teezmuleya@gmail.com.</li>
</ul>
<h3><a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h3>

Detective Muleya Concerned About Increasing Pyramid Scams Despite Repeated Warnings

A Harare man allegedly lost US$80 000 to a fraudster who claimed he operated a company called Homelife Furniture and Electrical Appliance Company, reported <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/man-loses-us80-000-in-ponzi-scheme/">The Herald</a>.
The suspect Emmanuel Chikweza is being charged together with his Homelife Furniture and Electrical Appliance Company.
He appeared before Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi at the weekend and was remanded in custody to this Tuesday for bail application.
The complainant in the matter is Brighton Ushendibaba.
The court heard that sometime in January 2023, Chikweza approached the complainant to persuade him to invest US$80 000 in his company.
He promised Ushendibaba that if he gave him a total of US$80 000, his company would in return make sure that the complainant would get a monthly profit of US$25 000.
It is further alleged that from March 2023 to date, the complainant made follow-ups with the accused person for the promised profits but the accused became evasive and was no longer answering the complainants’ calls.
That was when Ushendibaba realised that he had been duped and he then reported the matter to the police.
The accused person allegedly never paid the complainant the monthly profits of US$25 000.
Instead, he converted the capital injected to his own use thereby prejudicing the complainant of US$80 000. Nothing was recovered.
Last week, <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/2023/07/14/dont-invest-in-ponzi-pyramid-scheme-financial-intelligence-unit-tells-zimbabweans/">the</a> <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/2023/07/14/dont-invest-in-ponzi-pyramid-scheme-financial-intelligence-unit-tells-zimbabweans/">Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) warned members of the public against investing in Ponzi and Pyramid schemes</a>.
FIU said it had noted with concern the proliferation of Ponzi and Pyramid schemes in Zimbabwe.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Man Loses US$80 000 "Investment" To Fraudster

The sudden closure of E-Creator Zimbabwe which had lured hundreds of Zimbabweans with promises of easy cash has left many people worse off after they had invested their earnings into the Ponzi scheme.
The “firm” closed a few days ago after it failed to transfer money to its employees’ Ecocash accounts. Anyone who joined E-creator was called an employee.
Reports suggest that people were asked to pay US$15 to become VIP1 “employees”. By the end of the month, this money would purportedly increase to US$50.
A VIP2 employee required a minimum of US$100 and a maximum recharge of US$500.
VIP3 employees needed a minimum of US$500 and a maximum of US$2000.
Those who ran the scheme made it mandatory for employees who wanted to upgrade an account from one VIP to another, to invite a certain number of people to join the scheme.
Many employees of the online company had reportedly worked hard to become VIP2 employees.
However, a few days ago, E-Creator admitted that it had failed to honour withdrawals claiming that it obtained the E-Creator Merchant Account of Ecocash which it said needed to be connected with Ecocash before allowing employees to access their cash.
It later informed its subscribers that it had been forced to close after an alleged Chinese national resident in Zimbabwe siphoned all deposits made by the company’s employees.
In a statement posted on social media, E-Creator claimed that one Zhao Jiaotong, who allegedly started the Ponzi scheme, had been fraudulently withdrawing cash from E-creator employees’ EcoCash accounts with plans to skip the border.
Speaking to <a href="https://zbcnews.co.zw/2023/07/06/zimbabweans-lose-thousands-of-usds-to-online-platform/">ZBC News</a>, Claris Bwanya, an E-Creator VIP 1 employee, said he will never join a Ponzi scheme again. He said:
<blockquote>
I will never involve myself in these scams again, I joined barely two weeks ago.
</blockquote>
Another employee who preferred to be anonymous said:
<blockquote>
Abraham must be tortured, for real. He will tell us where he put our monies. He shouldn’t behave like this!
We invested funds until we reached US$500 thinking we are now making US$20 dollars per day and now the platform closes just like that…
</blockquote>
On 04 July, E-Creator manager Abraham Mutambu told ZBC News there were working on fixing some glitches on the EcoCash platform. He said:
<blockquote>
The company is fixing Ecocash issues as there was disorder, some were receiving double payment after they had withdrawn once, for instance, one could withdraw US$100 and he or she would receive US$200.
So we are maintaining our financial system and those with delayed withdrawals, by Saturday noon they would have received their money with an interest of 4%.
</blockquote>
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation where the operator pays returns to its investors from their own money or from the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned.
The scheme relies on attracting new investors and using their investments to provide returns to earlier investors.
The scheme is named after Charles Ponzi, an Italian-born swindler who became notorious in the early 20th century for running such a scheme.
Ponzi promised investors high returns on investments in international postal reply coupons, but he was actually using the money from new investors to pay off earlier investors.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Zimbabweans Lose Thousands Of United States Dollars To Ponzi Scheme

A Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church pastor based in Chegutu is allegedly on the run after he duped church members of their hard-earned money.
Pastor Fortunate Mawowa is said to have lured congregants into investing their money in a “company” he had set up.
He reportedly fled to South Africa in May last year when those who had invested in the company started asking for a return on their investments.
At least US$40 000 is believed to have been invested in his “company” but none of the investors received their dues.
One of Mawowa’s victims told <a href="https://www.hmetro.co.zw/sda-pastor-fleeces-church-members-flees-to-sa/">H-Metro</a> that he left for South Africa ostensibly to seek specialist medical treatment. said the victim:
<blockquote>
We have been duped of our hard-earned money after being sweet-talked into investing in his bogus scheme.
He bought a nice car and had a white wedding, which attracted so many people, using our investment funds.
Problems started when our investments matured and we needed to be paid.
He then started talking about being sick and sending apology text messages.
After realising that he was under pressure, he then went to South Africa under the disguise that he was going to see a specialist doctor.
</blockquote>
It is alleged that since he went to South Africa, Mawowa can no longer be reached and some of his victims have been approaching Mawowa’s mother demanding their money in vain.
In recent years, several reports have emerged indicating that thousands of people have fallen prey to fly-by-night pyramid schemes.
Police said in 2021, at least 10 000 people were scammed of over US$30 million after selling houses, vehicles, and other properties to invest in pyramid schemes.
Many Ponzi schemes share common characteristics. These are:
<ul>
<li>High returns with little or no risk.</li>
<li>Overly consistent returns.</li>
<li>Unregistered investments.</li>
<li>Unlicensed sellers.</li>
<li>Secretive, complex strategies.</li>
<li>Issues with paperwork.</li>
<li>Difficulty receiving payments.</li>
</ul>
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

SDA Pastor Dupes Congregants, Flees To South Africa

MDC MP Settlement Chikwinya has labelled the revived <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Zimbabwe_United_Passenger_Company">ZUPCO</a> a <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Ponzi_Scheme">Ponzi scheme</a> aimed at enriching the elite, New Zimbabwe reports.
Speaking to the publication, the Kwekwe legislator said:
<blockquote>The Zupco model was never going to be sustainable as it lacks both efficiency and accountability. The Zupco model was just another looting platform as it is reported that more than USD $13 million is channelled towards that scheme every month.</blockquote>
ZUPCO was revived last year after the fuel hike protests that resulted in the death of over a dozen people. <a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2019/12/06/govt-spends-51-million-per-month-on-zupco-subsidy/">It was aimed at awarding the urban populace a chance to affordable transportation. </a>
More: <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/zupco-yet-another-looting-scheme-by-authorities-chikwinya/">New Zimbabwe</a>

ZUPCO Is Another Ponzi Scheme Aimed At Looting State Coffers - Chikwinya

Fraud Latest News

Latest Jobs