dyton mupawaenda
Yeukai Karengezeka
Court Correspondent
A TRAVEL agent appeared in court yesterday facing charges of defrauding people by misrepresenting that she facilitates air tickets and accommodation for clients outside the country.
Talent Chetsanga (42), of Marinetravel is accused of swindling a lawyer and a bus operator, leaving them with significant financial losses.
Chetsanga, who was facing two counts of fraud before Harare Magistrate Mr Isheunesu Matova, was remanded in custody until Monday for a full bail application.
The first complainant, Shelliton Mahuni, a lawyer, sought Chetsanga’s services in July last year to arrange air tickets and accommodation for himself and his family for a trip to Hong Kong.
Chetsanga charged him a total of
US$7 000, which Mahuni paid in instalments over four months.
On December 19, Mahuni and his family travelled to Hong Kong.
However, upon arrival, they discovered that Chetsanga had not paid for their accommodation, forcing Mahuni to make an additional payment of HK$27,858 (equivalent to US$3 911) to secure a place to stay.
Chetsanga allegedly promised to reimburse Mahuni for the extra costs but failed to honour her promise.
The total amount defrauded in this case is US$3 911, and none of the money has been recovered.
The second complainant, Wilfred Chibage approached Chetsanga in October seeking assistance with air tickets and accommodation for a family trip to Cape Town, South Africa.
Chetsanga quoted a total of US$6 475, which included air tickets, accommodation, transport, and entertainment for six days. Chibage paid the full amount in instalments.
On December 24, the day of the planned trip, Chetsanga called Chibage en route to the airport and advised him to cancel the journey, claiming the tickets had not been processed.
Despite this, Chibage proceeded to the airport, where he discovered that the tickets had been booked, but not paid for.
Chibage made an additional payment and managed to board the flight.
However, upon arriving in Cape Town, he found that Chetsanga had only paid 50 percent of the hotel booking fees and had not made any arrangements for transport or entertainment expenses as promised.
Chibage had to pay for hotel bookings, transport, and return tickets out of his pocket.
As a result of Chetsanga’s actions, Chibage suffered a loss of US$ 6 969.
The total amount defrauded in both cases amounts to US$ 10 880, with no recoveries made to date.
Mr Rufaro Chonzi appeared for the State.
