Zimbabwe: A fuel dealer was arrested for defrauding a fuel company of US $56,200 as he was given the advance to deliver 80,000 litres of fuel. The dealer appeared in court on Jan 17, 2024.
Reportedly, Charles Whide, aged 39, was represented by Steven Chikotora in the court. He was remanded out of custody on Feb 23 on free bail by Harare magistrate – Appollonia Marutya.
The complaint is filed by the complainant, Ryan Dzapata, who represented Faith Fuels Pvt Ltd.
As per the reports, the state, led by Thomas Chanakira, said that on May 19, 2022, Whide approached Ryan Dzapata of Faith Fuels Pvt Ltd and convinced him that he could acquire fuel on his behalf.
But Whide misrepresented that he had the potential to acquire fuel from Strauss Logistics Pvt Ltd of Willowvale, Harare which is a company that trades in bulk fuel.
As per the reports, Dzapata showed interest and ordered 80,000 litres of diesel and gave Whide US $56,200 as a deposit, with the balance to be paid upon the delivery of the diesel.
According to the allegations, Whide took the money but did not deliver the fuel. Later, Dzapata tried to contact Whide several times, but he kept on giving false promises.
Notably, at one point, he misrepresented that he had bought the fuel from Mozambique, but it was intercepted by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA).
According to the recorded statement of Ryan Dzapata, he waited for over a year but Whide changed his mobile number and became evasive and even blocked his number.
After realising that Whide was a bogus supplier, Dzapata filed a report at the Zimbabwe police station, after which further investigation was done and led to the arrest of fraud Whide.
Whide’s actions of fraud resulted in the prejudiced US $56,200 of the fuel company, and reportedly, nothing has been recovered yet.