By Judith Nyuke
Magistrate Francis Mapfumo has issued a warrant of arrest for socialite Admire Mushambi popularly known as Mama Vee after he failed to appear as a witness in the E-Creator fraud trial at the Harare Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning.
The case centres on E-Creator mastermind Zhao Jiaotong, legally represented by Moffat Makuvatsine, who is accused of defrauding more than 670 investors of over US$364,000.
According to the State, Zhao used socialites’ Facebook pages including those of Madam Boss, real name Cleopatra Tarisai Munetsiwa, and Mama Vee to advertise the scheme and lure unsuspecting investors.
However, on Friday, Madam Boss testified as a witness in the case, distancing herself from the scam by stating she was introduced to E-Creator by Mama Vee.
Madam Boss said she and her manager visited the E-Creator offices after Mama Vee told her the company sought advertising.
Assessing the appearance of the three apparent owners and the offices, they believed the operation was legitimate and proceeded with a Facebook Live broadcast, receiving US$700 for the promotion.
According to Madam Boss she also lost US$100 after joining the scheme, along with US$200 she had given her husband, aunt, and maid to join, and she did not benefit from it.
When asked during cross-examination if she was aware that some people joined the scheme following her advertisement, Madam Boss acknowledged the fact but maintained that she was simply performing an assigned task
The matter was remanded to 20 October, 2025 for trail continuation.
Allegations are that between January and July 2023 hundreds of complainants invested a combined US$364,647.30 into the company through EcoCash accounts.
On 3 July 2023 investors reportedly struggled to withdraw funds.
They were told the difficulties were due to a system upgrade.
Just two days later, E-Creator abruptly announced it was shutting down operations claiming Zhao had fled the country with investors’ money.
