Harare – A Harare magistrate freed property developer, Leon Zvarevashe and his co-accused Nyasha Mhuru of fraud charges after prosecution failed to stick charges against the duo.
The accused had pleaded not guilty to the charges when the case initially appeared in court.
The National Prosecution Authority (NPA) failed to prove the charges that the complainant was duped in selling a house in Hillside.
The State had accused the duo of misrepresenting to Debra Mullin that she was signing paperwork for a US$50 000 loan agreement when she was signing sale agreement for her US$250 000 house.
Testifying before the court Mullin said she had thought the house was being used as a collateral for a US$50 000 loan.
However, Zvarevashe and Mhuru said it was a property agreement and not a loan.
Zvarevashe and Mhuru in their defence said the complainant knew they had entered an agreement of sale.
They denied ever presenting a loan agreement with Mullin.
The complainant, Mullin received US$100 000 as part of the agreement of sale.
Therefore the court found that Mullin could not have been misrepresented if she was a recipient of the various payments.
In freeing the accused, the magistrate court said the prosecution has failed to prove the charges of misrepresantation that anchor a fraud charge.