A 36-year-old woman from Borrowdale, Harare, has appeared in court for allegedly swindling a home seeker of US$80 000 in a botched property deal.
Sabina Mapfanya appeared before Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo charged with fraud.
The complainant in the case is the Bango Family Trust represented by Amore Mapanga.
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The court heard that in July 2025, Mapfanya approached Mapanga, stating that she was selling her property--Villa 45 Carrick Creagh, Borrowdale, Harare which featured a semi-finished house.
She claimed she was selling it to raise capital for an undisclosed business venture.
Mapanga became interested and negotiated a purchase price of US$120 000 to be paid in installments following an initial deposit of US$27 000.
Mapanga subsequently paid the US$27 000 deposit to Mapfanya through his lawyers, and she signed an acknowledgment of receipt.
Although Mapanga began developing the property, he soon left the country for Australia.
He allowed Mapfanya to remain on the property temporarily while she looked for alternative accommodation.
However, Mapfanya allegedly took advantage of his absence and sold the property to another buyer without Mapanga's knowledge.
Mapanga discovered the offense in September 2025 upon his return, when he attempted to locate Mapfanya to settle the remaining balance.
He lodged a police report and subsequent investigations by detectives led to Mapfanya's arrest.
The total prejudice is US$80 000 and nothing has been recovered.
