Two Goromonzi men appeared before Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo on Monday facing fraud charges after allegedly defrauding their churchmate of US$21,891 through a gold-buying partnership.
Tawanda Mutando, 38, and Knowledge Mutando, 32, were granted bail and remanded to a later date.
The State alleges that in September 2025, Tawanda approached Terence Mashiri, an employee of Blue Stream Finance, proposing that they partner in a gold-buying business.
Tawanda allegedly showed Mashiri a permit purporting to have been issued by Fidelity Gold Refinery (Private) Limited authorising him to operate as a gold buyer. The permit allegedly listed Knowledge as an agent.
Believing the representations, Mashiri allegedly handed Tawanda US$31,700 in cash, with Knowledge responsible for buying gold while Tawanda accounted for the money and gold.
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The arrangement allegedly unravelled in January 2026 when Mashiri requested US$15,000 for personal use. Tawanda allegedly returned only US$5,500.
Knowledge later allegedly told Mashiri that he had used US$14,571.33 to buy 136.82 grammes of gold and was transporting it to Harare.
However, upon arrival, Knowledge allegedly claimed that he had been robbed and that the gold and money had been stolen.
The State alleges that Mashiri later discovered that the robbery had not occurred and that Knowledge had instead used the money to buy a residential stand and build a house in Goromonzi.
The two accused allegedly admitted during a confrontation with Mashiri that the robbery story had been fabricated and agreed to reimburse him.
The State alleges Mashiri suffered actual prejudice of US$21,891. US$6,820 has so far been recovered.
The matter was remanded pending further investigations, with the State expected to produce the alleged Fidelity permit and financial transaction records as evidence.
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