By Judith Nyuke
Socialites Cleopatra Tarisai Munetsiwa, known as Madam Boss and Admire Mushambi, known as Mama Vee are set to appear in court as witnesses in the case against E-Creator mastermind Zhao Jiaotong who is accused of swindling over US$364 647 from more than 670 investors.
According to the State, E-Creator Electronics (Private) Limited Company advertised through various means including the use of popular socialites’ Facebook pages in order to lure the complainants into the scheme.
Consequently, 670 complainants remitted a total of $364,647.30 in investments to E-Creator Electronics (Private) Limited Company, utilising various Econet EcoCash accounts.
On July 3 2023, some complainants reportedly faced difficulties accessing their funds and sought an explanation from E-Creator.
They were allegedly assured that a system upgrade was causing the issue.
However, just two days later, E-Creator announced on its website that it had ceased operations, surprising the complainants.
The company notice said Jiatong had fled the country with their money.
Zhao pleaded not guilty to fraud charges as his trial commenced at the Harare Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
Through his lawyer Moffat Makuvatsine, Zhao told the court he doesn’t speak English well enough to have communicated with any of the state witnesses.
Zhao denied ever misrepresenting to anyone that he was operating a profitable investment scheme with lucrative returns.
He also denied any involvement in forming E-Creator Electronic Commerce (Private) Limited or participating in its daily operations.
He also said that he never received any money from the alleged scheme and had no reason to flee, as he knew nothing about the offense.
He was surprised by his arrest, noting that authorities found nothing incriminating on him, his phone, or anywhere else.
Magistrate Francis Mapfumo rolled over the matter to 17 July for trail continuation.
