Man on community service uses provincial magistrat...

Man on community service uses provincial magistrate to fake court order

Zim Now Writer

A fraudster who was ordered to do work at the provincial magistrate’s office as part of his community service showed that efforts to correct him while out of custody was not paying.

This time, in order to fix his ex-wife by recovering disputed property from her, he stole the provincial magistrate’s official date stamp in order to authenticate a fake court order he had scribbled by hand

The unrepentant fraudster, ordered to clean a provincial magistrate's office as part of community service, was at it again when he unlawfully took an official date stamp to authenticate a fake court order against his ex-wife.

Brian Chidoma Mandala (27) of Mpata Section, Chinhoyi on Monday appeared before magistrate Rumbidzai Tshuma for sentencing in a case of forgery.

He was slapped with 24 months imprisonment, of which six were suspended on condition of good behaviour.

However, six months from a previous conviction involving dishonesty were evoked, meaning Mandala will spend an effective 24 months behind bars.

The complainant was the State represented by Eunice Milanzi, the convict's estranged wife.

Prosecutor Clever Nyapfani told the court that on October 11 this year at around 7:30am and at Chinhoyi Magistrates Courts, Mandala, a probationer doing unpaid work, was ordered to sweep the Provincial Head’s office.

Court heard that in the midst of his duties, the convict hatched a plan to forge a court order to recover disputed property from his ex-wife.

Mandala scripted a handwritten document which he then “certified” using the Provincial Magistrate’s date stamp.

The court heard that following the couple’s divorce, Milanzi took possession of property and gave Diana Kampanga a four-plate stove, a blanket, a comforter and five empty buckets for safekeeping.

The court heard on October 12, 2022, Mandala went to Kampanga’s residence with the fake court order, which instructed her to immediately surrender the property to him.

Mandala was handed the property valued at US$380 and left the counterfeit document in the hands of one Shamiso Emisipo as Kampanga was not at home.

His former wife was later informed of the development and she reported the matter to the police, leading to the discovery that the document was forged.

Mandala was then arrested for forgery.