Daily Harvest Director in hot soup for fraud allegations

Daily Harvest Director has been arrested for fraud involving US$40 000 in botched maize and beans deals for his milling company.

Bulawayo police spokesperson, Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the arrest of a businessman, Michael Ndebele (32) and revealed that is accused of defrauding four individuals by failing to pay them for the supply of raw materials to his company.

“During the period between September 2023 and February 2024, the accused misrepresented himself to four complainants that his company buys maize bran and other raw materials in cash through advertisements on different media platforms. He added that cash will be paid upon delivery,” said Inspector Ncube.

Fraudulent Activity

He added, “Attracted by the accused’s good terms of payment, the complainants supplied the accused with raw materials but were not paid their dues at the agreed time leading to them making police reports of Fraud.”

The spokesperson revealed that one of the victims, a 25-year-old male from Harare, delivered 7.2 tonnes of sugar beans to Ndebele’s company but was not paid anything in return, suffering a loss of US$5,760. Another victim, a 46-year-old female from Lusaka, Zambia, supplied 60 tonnes of maize bran and was only paid US$6,350 instead of the agreed amount of US$16,500, with a total loss of US$17,083.

A third victim, a 36-year-old male from Harare, delivered 30 tonnes of maize for US$7,200, but only received US$2,500 in payment, resulting in a loss of US$4,700. The fourth victim, a 25-year-old male from Harare, also suffered a loss of US$11,870 after delivering maize bran to Ndebele’s company.

Nothing Recovered

Inspector Ncube, stated, “Altogether the complainants lost US$39,413 and nothing was recovered. Police instituted investigations into the reported cases and assistance rendered by relevant stakeholders and members of the public led to the arrest of the accused person.”

Ncube urged the public to exercise caution and conduct due diligence before engaging in business transactions to avoid falling victim to fraudsters. Ndebele is currently in police custody awaiting trial for his alleged crimes.