By Staff Reporter
Gweru – Fake Lawyer, Takunda Manjokota (37), who defrauded a local Gweru businesswoman of US$15 000 divorce settlement, was recently found guilty by the Gweru Magistrate Courts and sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Manjokota, from Senga high density suburb in Gweru, misrepresented himself as a Lawyer to the local businesswoman, Lindiwe Moyo (49), and took over her divorce case against husband, Mthonzima Moyo yet he was unregistered.
He was found guilty of theft of trust property and impersonation by Gweru Magistrate, Arnold Makuro, and sentenced him to 20 months in prison, however, with three months suspended.
The case dragged for almost a year with several postponements from Manjokota and his Lawyers, the issue having been first reported in February 2024.
The state heard that Manjokota posed as a registered legal practitioner and convinced Moyo to let him handle her divorce case.
Moyo had initially engaged Sawyer and Mukushi Legal Practitioners’s Nyaradzo Maphosa to handle her divorce case at the Bulawayo High Court.
Manjokota then organized a meeting between Moyo and her estranged husband, Mthonzima Moyo, where it was agreed that Mthonzima would pay Moyo US$15,000 as part of the divorce settlement.
However, instead of transferring the money to Moyo, Mthonzima Moyo transferred ZWL$16,500,000 into Manjokota’s bank account as her Lawyer.
When Moyo asked Manjokota about the transferred money after receiving a message from Mthonzima about the local currency transfer, since they had agreed on a US dollar settlement, he said he had returned the money.
However, despite numerous inquiries, Manjokota continued to give Moyo excuses, claiming that he was still processing the refund.
The truth was eventually discovered when Moyo contacted Mthonzima, revealing that the money had never been returned.
Manjokota was arrested and charged with acting unlawfully.
The court also ordered him to restitute US$15,000 before June 30, 2025, and fined him US$200 for the impersonation charge.
Moyo also discovered that Manjokota had gone ahead to finalise her divorce with Mthonzima through Kwande Legal Practitioners without her knowledge, despite the US$15 000 settlement to Moyo being an agreed prerequisite.
