ZIMBABWE Miners Federation chief executive officer Wellington Mudiwa Takavarasha has appeared in court on allegations of swindling two small scale miners of more than US$5 000.

Takavarasha (43) was not formally charged when he appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Anita Tshuma. He is being charged with two counts of fraud involving US$5 950.

He was remanded out of custody to July 18 on US$100 bail. Prosecutor Mr David Magwegwe told the court that sometime in August 2010 Takavarasha placed an advertisement in the local press indicating that the mining firm was conducting a hire purchase scheme for mining compressors.

The owner of Gwanda-based Crown 10 Mine called Takavarasha and indicated that he wanted to benefit from the scheme and was told of the value of the machinery and the required deposit.

Mr Magwegwe said Takavarasha told the complainant to quickly source the money as there were only three compressors left in stock.

But in April the complainant learnt that the machine had already been sold to another.