A Harare businessman has been fined US$300 after being convicted of US$460 000 fraud. Luka Ignatius Fabris defrauded Mrs Leigh Ann Patricia Rudland in a botched cattle ranching deal.
The magistrate ordered Fabris to restitute Mrs Rudland US$460 000 or the equivalent in local currency by July 31. The court heard that Fabris acting on behalf of his company, approached Mrs Rudland in 2019 and persuaded her to invest in his cattle ranching business. He promised that she would get 2 percent of her total investment every month.
Mrs Rudland, through her lawyers, transferred ZWL4.8 million on March 21, 2019. The two verbally agreed that the money was equivalent to US$1 million at the prevailing bank rate.
After Mrs Rudland injected her investment, she only received US$540 000 in total returns and thereafter, Fabris stopped giving her any money.
Fabris said although they agreed on the value of Mrs Rudland’s investment, that value was lost due to inflation. He said the company’s directors declined giving her more money as it would amount to an unjust enrichment of the complainant.
He denied defrauding Mrs Rudland.
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