Ex-cricketer nabbed on numerous fraud charges

Raymond Jaravaza

AFTER months of evading police detention on a warrant of arrest for absconding court, ex-cricketer Dumisani Mankunzini has finally been arrested and is facing three other fraud charges.

In May this year, B-Metro reported that a warrant of arrest had been issued for Mankunzini.

The warrant of arrest was in relation to a case in which Mankunzini was accused of swindling a Bulawayo woman of more than R23 000 in a botched deal.

He had been arrested sometime in September last year, accused of defrauding Phindile Ncube of her money and released on $20 000 bail.

He never showed up in court, prompting the magistrate to issue a warrant of arrest.

Last week he was arrested and now faces more charges of swindling other people of their money.

He appeared at the Bulawayo magistrates’ courts on 5 November and was remanded in custody to 18 November to answer to the new charges.
Court documents indicate that in the first case, on 15 June 2022 Mankunzini approached one Dennis Musingiri who works at a city pharmacy and promised to facilitate employment for him at the Zimbabwe Cricket offices in Harare.

Mankunzini is alleged to have asked Musingiri for US$300 to use for accommodation in the capital city while facilitating the employment deal.
After realising that he had been conned, Musingiri filed a police report.

In the second case, the ex-cricketer is accused of making off from a city lodge, on 29 June 2022, without paying for services rendered.
Allegations are that he booked a room at Serenity Lodge in Kumalo suburb for four days and sneaked out of the establishment without paying. He defrauded the lodge of $270 600.

Early this month, the ex-cricketer is accused of having misrepresented to Mercy Nomsa Ndlovu, a nurse aide who intended to travel to the United Kingdom for a job, that he was a Member of Parliament (MP) and could assist her with some documents that she needed.

On 2 November 2022, Ndlovu met Mankunzini in the city centre and handed him US$405 and a copy of her passport. The money was for the documents that the accused had promised to facilitate for her. Later on the same day, the accused phoned Ndlovu and asked for another US$30, claiming the first payment had fallen short of the money needed to process the documents and he was given the money.

The following day Mankunzini phoned the complainant and demanded an additional US$600 to fast track the processing of the documents but Ndlovu grew suspicious and reported the matter to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Bulawayo.

The CID Anti-Corruption Unit sought authority to set a trap to arrest Mankunzini and US$300 was used in preparation to trap the accused.
The complainant met Mankunzini at the parking lot of a local hotel and she handed the trap money to the accused who was immediately arrested by detectives.

The trap money is held as exhibit.
The US$435 paid to Mankunzini prior to the arrest was not recovered.

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