8 Harare Poly students duped

Prosper Dembedza

Herald Correspondent

Eight students from Harare Polytechnic allegedly lost US$9 500 to a suspected fraudster who masqueraded as a human resources officer at Delta Corporation in Southerton and promised them industrial attachment places.

Martin Mutize (25) is facing fraud charges and appeared before Mbare magistrate Rangarirai  Gakanje.

For the prosecution, Mrs Hazvinei Rukande told the court that sometime in September 2023, Mutize allegedly planned to defraud unsuspecting students who were looking for work-related  attachment.

The court heard that Mutize asked his uncle, Keith Mutize, who is a student at Harare Polytechnic, to look for students willing to undergo attachment at Delta Corporation in Southerton .

Keith informed fellow students through a college Whatsapp  group, which  resulted  in several students responding.

It is alleged  that the students contacted Mutize  who confirmed  that he worked at Delta Corporation and was indeed in a position to facilitate attachment places for them.

Mutize had two mobile numbers, using the name Martin Mutize on one number and masquerading as Mr Phiri, a human resources officer at Delta Corporation on another number.

The court heard that Mutize advised the students  that there were fees they were supposed to  pay to get places for attachment.

When  Mutize made this misrepresentation, he knew that he was not a Delta Corporation worker neither did he have the capacity to facilitate work attachment places for the students at the company.

As a result of this misrepresentation, Mutize made  students to pay to him on different occasions, an accumulative total of US$9 500  in cash and through his Ecocash account number.

He misrepresented that the money was meant for buying uniforms, tools box and booking of medical examinations.

On May 2, 2024, detectives arrested Mutize in connection with the case.

The students suffered total prejudice of US$9 500 and nothing was recovered.