Byo man in court for fraudulently selling granny`s house

A Bulawayo man has been arrested after he allegedly teamed up with two accomplices and sold his late grandmother’s house using forged documents.

A court heard the owner of the house Annie Msindo died in 1990 and the estate was transferred to Josephine Tshuma’s name as per the deceased’s will.

David Nqobile Tshuma (35), who was related to both Msindo and Tshuma then hatched a plan with Wilfred Mafuka (28) and Leeroy Cha Blumears (37) to sell the property.

The trio appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ulekile Mlea-Ndlovu facing a charge of fraud and is out on bail till November 5.

Tshuma, represented by Tanaka Muganyi of Tanaka Law Chambers, was granted $500 bail while Mafuka and Blumears were each granted bail of $300.

State representative Nkathazo Dlodlo told the court that Tshuma and Mafuka hatched a plan to defraud one Jacob Taylor by selling him a house using fake documents.

Dlodlo said the two produced forged letters of administration which were “legally” appointing them to sell the property.

He said the offence was discovered when Taylor went to enquire about the state of the property from the Master of the High Court.

“The trio proceeded to Taylor’s lawyer, Tavengwa Hara on April 19, 2019, where a memorandum of understanding was drafted between Taylor and Tshuma. Mafuka posed as the guarantor while Blumears was a witness. Taylor then paid USD$8 175. He later approached the Master of Hugh Court and discovered that contrary to the documents he had been given by the accused persons, the estate had not yet been wound up and there was no letter stating Tshuma was the executor,” said Dlodlo.

Dlodlo said Annie Msindo (Tshuma’s grandmother) died in 1990 and the estate was transferred to Josephine Tshuma’s name as per the deceased’s will.

He said Josephine passed on in 1995 and the estate was again transferred to her husband’s name Peter Kadenga who was then appointed as the executor.

“In 1998 Josephine’s husband also passed on before winding up his wife’s estate. Louisa Bandal-Josephine’s daughter-decided to pursue winding up the estate. On July 25 a meeting was convened by the Master of High Court in relation to the estate and Louisa was appointed as the executor,” said Dlodlo.