A Kwekwe couple has landed in court after allegedly conning the woman’s father, who lives in the UK, out of over US$100,000 meant for a property development project.
Unity Marengu (37) and her husband Nelson Farai Marengu (42) appeared at the Kwekwe Magistrate’s Court this week facing fraud charges. The case has since been referred to the High Court for sentencing, with the pair remanded in custody.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the allegations date back to 2019 when Unity’s father, Felix Kobeti Magomo, a retired teacher based in the UK, entrusted his daughter and son-in-law with purchasing and developing a residential stand in Kwekwe.
Travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic meant Felix couldn’t come to Zimbabwe himself, so he sent US$102,374 to Unity to handle the transaction on his behalf.
The couple went ahead and bought Stand 7082 in Hillandale, Kwekwe. However, instead of registering the property in Felix’s name, they allegedly put it under their own names.
Throughout the development phase, they kept sending updates to Felix, leading him to believe everything was above board.
Things started unravelling in November 2021 when Felix returned to Zimbabwe and asked for the agreement of sale so he could process the deed of transfer.
Unity reportedly failed to provide the documents and instead left an envelope showing the property had been registered in her and her husband’s names.
The couple then started avoiding him, prompting Felix to return again in April 2022 to try and sort things out.
After some back and forth, an agreement was made to place the property under the “Felix Kobeti Magomo Trust.”
Unity and other family members signed the trust documents, and the couple was expected to officially donate the property to the trust.
But after Felix went back to the UK, the couple apparently changed their minds and told their lawyers they were no longer interested in donating the property. Felix only found out when he got an email breaking the news.
In September 2022, Felix came back to Zimbabwe once more and reported the matter to the police, leading to the pair’s arrest.
The total value of the alleged fraud stands at US$102,874.
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