A SENIOR civil servant based at the Mbare Magistrates Court, Edmond Mboko, is accused of having masqueraded as a High Court judge and duped a South African national of over $1 500 after misrepresenting that he would assist the latter in getting a resident permit.
SENIOR COURT REPORTER
Mboko (61), who had served in the Ministry of Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for over 30 years, is also alleged to have acted in cahoots with a photographer based at the Harare Magistrates Court, Christopher Chinomona and one Victor Magwaza to swindle the same complainant, Elsharknaina Ez Ahmed, of over $500 in a botched marriage solemnisation scam.
The three appeared before a Harare magistrate on different charges and were remanded to August 13 this year on $50 bail each.
The State alleges that sometime in March this year, Mboko was was approached by Ahmed who was seeking assistance to solemnise his marriage with Desna Marie D’Almeida.
Mboko allegedly informed Ahmed that he was a judge of the High Court of Zimbabwe and called Chinomona whom he tasked to deal with the matter.
Ahmed allegedly said Chinomona demanded $500, but was given $400 for processing of marriage certificates.
On March 21, it is alleged, Mboko asked Ahmed to pay him $1 500 for processing his residence permit and the latter obliged.
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A few days later, Mboko allegedly sent a message to Ahmed advising him that his application for the residence permit had been rejected.
As if that was not enough, Mboko is alleged to have introduced Magwaza to Ahmed as an immigration officer and both Chinomona and Magwaza requested Ahmed to pay $1 500, but he settled for $500 after which he was issued with a fake receipt.
Upon realisation that nothing was materialising from all the transactions, Ahmed approached immigration officials at Liquenda House in Harare where Godfrey Kondo and Patrick Nyambiya informed him that according to his file which was in their possession, there were no papers suggesting that he had applied for a residence permit.
The matter was reported to police, leading to the trio’s arrest.
Police investigations revealed that Ahmed lost a total of $2 400 and only $300 was recovered from Chinomona’s Eco-cash account.
