Man steals US$130k worth of soccer equipment

Michael Mashiri

A Marondera man who lied to a woman that he had been sent by her husband to collect 43 boxes of sports equipment with a value of US$130 000, which he stole before selling it has made his initial appearance in court.

Saul Murangwa, 32, of Marondera was before the Harare Magistrates’ Court accused of theft.

The complainant in the matter is Trinity Hlavati, 34, of Avondale West.

The State alleges that, on April 5, Murangwa, who works for Bukminia Enterprises as a driver, went to Hlavati's house in company of Melody Chitepo, who is Hlavati’s landlady, to check the state of the house that is when Murangwa noticed that there were boxes stashed in Hlavati’s spare bedroom.

The next morning around 06:30 hours Murangwa went back to the house and lied to Hlavati that he had been sent by her husband, Marshal Jonga, to collect 43 boxes of sports equipment.

Hlavati tried to contact her husband to verify the alleged transaction but failed due to poor network connectivity and opted to text a message.

During the time Hlavati was trying to communicate with her husband, Murangwa started loading boxes of sports equipment onto his truck.

Her husband replied after 30 minutes denying that he had sent anyone to collect anything but Murangwa had already left Hlavati’s house with the boxes to an unknown destination.

Hlavati then reported the matter to the police.

On April 7, detectives from CID Marlborough were informed, leading to Murangwa’s arrest.

43 boxes of soccer equipment comprising 4 sealed boxes of defender man, 3 sealed boxes of free kit man, 1 sealed box of agility ladder, 5 sealed boxes of coach boards, 1 box of cricket helmet, 12 sealed boxes of falcon,13 sealed boxes of hawk, 2 boxes of soccer uniforms and 1 box of black kit bags were recovered.

Hlavati was then summoned to CID Marlborough where she positively identified her property.

The total value of the property that was stolen is US$130 000.