ABWA CEO, Shamiso Fred stands trial on fraud charg...

ABWA CEO, Shamiso Fred stands trial on fraud charge involving nearly US$200 000

Michael Mashiri

The Chief Executive Officer of African Businesswoman Association has appeared in court in connection with a case of fraud involving US$196 553.

ABWA, located along Churchill Avenue, Gunhill and Shamiso Fred, 41, appeared before the Harare Magistrates’ Courts accused of fraud.

The matter has sixteenth complainants.

The State alleges that in 2021, Fred made a misrepresentation to the 16 complainants mentioned by advertising on various social media platforms, inviting various clients to invest in ABWA which claimed to specialise in egg production and dairy farming.

The condition was that, one would pay a non-refundable joining fee of US$39 and invest US$1 000 for a slot in the egg production and US$2 000 for a slot in dairy farming and offered them a lucrative profit margin.

It is alleged that the complainants were lied to that after the investment, they would benefit US$250 per month as profit share in egg production and US$450 per month as profit share in dairy farming.

The 16 complainants allegedly invested various amounts totalling US$196 553 towards egg production and dairy farming during between December 2020 and October 2022.

Upon maturity of their investment only three complainants received part of the profit and 13 complainants never received anything.

This led to complainants to file police reports, leading to Fred’s arrest.

As a result, US$196 553 was prejudiced and only US$19 005 was recovered.

Fred was ordered to deposit US$500 bail.