A Kariba man claiming to be a dried Kapenta fish dealer has been slapped with a nine month custodial jail sentence for converting into his own use, US$990 entrusted on him by a customer to buy and deliver fish.
Josiah Kadzora (37) of house number 14 Heights Drive, Kariba last Friday appeared before a local magistrate Tafadzwa Mhlanga facing a fraud.
Kadzora was last year dragged to the same court on similar charges but escaped jail after the then presiding magistrate gave him an option to pay a fine.
This time around, Kadzora was not so lucky when magistrate Mhlanga handed him 12 months imprisonment of which three months were suspended on condition, he restituted the complainant US$990.
The state case, led by Phillip Urayai was that sometime in February 2019, at Nyamhunga township in Kariba, a Thandiwe Marange of Highfields, Harare gave Kadzora US$990 for him to buy 5×30 kilogrammes of dried Kapenta and send them to Harare through a courier service company.
The court heard Kadzora did not honour his promise and instead converted the cash to his own personal use.
Nothing was recovered.