By Staff Reporter
A shocking case of deception occurred in the city of Gweru, after a United Kingdom based man, Mkhululi Mpofu fell victim to a sophisticated car scam losing his truck valued at USD$ 10,000.
Mpofu left his truck for sale at Rideberg Car Sales, owned by Brian Kumirai at the end of last year hence in March this year, sales agent Lawrence Tendai approached Mpofu with a potential buyer, Tafadzwa Manake who offered to purchase the truck for USD$ 6,000.
“I left my truck at Rideberg Car Sales around November 2023, which is owned by Brian Kumirai. In March 2024, Lawrence approached me, saying a friend of his wanted to buy the truck on a payment plan.”
The agreement stipulated that Manake would pay USD $2,000 upfront, followed by two monthly installments of USD $2,000.
“I agreed to sell the truck for USD $6,000, with USD $2,000 upfront and USD $2,000 monthly thereafter.
However, Manake only paid USD $1,700 and has since evaded Mpofu’s attempts to collect the remaining payment.
“Tafadzwa only paid $1,700, took my truck, and since then there have been no further payments just lies, excuses, and even threats at times.”
“I was deceived by Lawrence and his friends, who used my truck without my knowledge, causing damage and losing the keys,” Mpofu added.
Mpofu reported the case to the police, who are currently investigating.
When contacted, Manake claimed the truck had technical faults and stated, “I incurred costs trying to fix the car, so I can only pay him USD $3,000 when I get it back,” before hanging up.
