A 26-year-old man from Harare’s Budiriro suburb has been hauled before the courts after allegedly masquerading as a registered legal practitioner to defraud a client.
Prosper Tapiwa Manyagadze appeared before Harare magistrate Musaiona Shotgame on Wednesday facing fraud and forgery charges.
He was remanded in custody until today for a bail hearing.
Prosecutors say that in April this year, Manyagadze posed as a practising lawyer registered with the Law Society of Zimbabwe.
He allegedly convinced the complainant to hire him to recover a US$3,000 debt.
The State claims the complainant paid Manyagadze the money, believing it was for legal fees and High Court expenses.
But the complainant later discovered the suspect was not a lawyer, and that the court documents he produced were fake.
On the forgery charge, it is alleged that on 12 May Manyagadze stamped documents with a counterfeit High Court date stamp and inserted a fake case number — HCH482/25.
Court papers say he then presented the forged documents to the complainant claiming the matter was before High Court judge Justice Dube-Banda.
Manyagadze’s alleged deception was only uncovered after the complainant made checks with the court prompting a police investigation.
