A MBARE school operator has been convicted on three counts of fraud and theft after swindling a parent of thousands of United States dollars in Cambridge Ordinary Level examination fees.
Richmore Sairos (39), a private tutor operating an unregistered college called Shekinah Elite Academy, was arraigned before Harare magistrate Nyaradzo Manokore, who found him guilty.
The court heard that the complainant’s child was enrolled at Sairos’ college studying five Ordinary Level subjects and was due to sit for the June 2022 Cambridge examinations administered through the British Council.
Registration for the examinations was to be done online, with fees deposited in a nostro account before being transferred to the British Council examination account.
Prosecutor Takudzwa Mutyavaviri told the court that in April 2022, the complainant gave Sairos US$700 for her child’s examination registration. Sairos was supposed to deposit the money in his Nostro account and transfer it to the British Council examination account.
However, the State proved that Sairos converted the money to his own use. To conceal the offence, he allegedly manufactured a fake statement of entry, which he gave to the complainant.
The fraud came to light close to the June examination period when Sairos informed the complainant that there had been an error with regards to her child’s registration with the Cambridge board.
Investigations later established that examination fees had not been remitted as required, leading to Sairos’ arrest.
On a separate count, on June 6, 2022, Sairos reportedly approached the complainant again and advised her that her two other children were due for Cambridge examination registration.
The court heard that the two learners intended to register for seven subjects each, requiring US$1 312 in examination fees to be deposited in the British Council bank account.
On June 7, 2022, the complainant handed over the money to Sairos, who was again expected to deposit the funds in his nostro account before transferring them to the British Council examination account.
Instead, the court heard that Sairos converted the funds to his own use and fraudulently generated fake bank confirmation receipts purporting that payment had been made.
The offence was uncovered when the complainant verified payment with the beneficiary account and was informed that the confirmation receipts were fraudulent.
Sairos was subsequently arrested.