Zvikomborero Parafini
THREE foreign nationals, who posed as sangomas on Facebook, have scammed 58 Zimbabweans out of more than US$30 000.
Kimbugwe Ibrah, Hillary Ssebunya and Godfrey Nanasira operated under three Facebook pages, Sekuru Banda, Gamora and The Great Jenko.
Ibrah is Zambian while Ssebunya and Nanasira are from Uganda.
They entered Zimbabwe in May.
They claimed to have the ability to cure HIV, bring back lost lovers, and perform money magic.
They registered 10 SIM cards in their names and received money via InnBucks from the victims.
The fraudsters would show the victims a black trunk with traditional regalia to convince them they were performing rituals.
It was found that the trio spent part of the money on their families and their stay in Zimbabwe.
The court heard that during their illegal stay in the country, the three connived with one Dennis Mnyega and advertised on Facebook and distributed fliers claiming to be spiritual healers with spiritual powers.
They claimed they could multiply one’s money 10 times its value, and had magic rings and magic wallets.
They also claimed that they could cure HIV/AIDS within 10 to 16 days after using their concoction.
Stanford Chaka, Miriam Kangaza and 56 other Zimbabweans responded to the adverts and contacted them looking for their services.
Various amounts of money were sent via InnBucks to the cellphone numbers provided to get “medicine for HIV/AIDS as well as multiplication of money.
In order to convince their unsuspecting victims to believe their trickery, the trio would call the victims on WhatsApp and show them a black trunk with traditional garbs pretending to be performing rituals.
Police recovered the trunk with beads, bottles with water, as well as red and white garbs from Nanasira’s bedroom.
Investigations also revealed that the three sent some of the money they received to their families in their home countries and used the rest for their upkeep in Zimbabwe.
Grace Mugocheke appeared for the State.