A 55-year-old Harare man, Tonderai Chikuni, has been accused of using his relatives’ homes as collateral to secure loans from two local banks, and then failing to repay the debts. Because, you know, that’s just good business sense.
Chikuni allegedly convinced his aunt, Florence Rwidzai Madake, to release the title deed to her Borrowdale West property, valued at a whopping $460,000, to secure a 90-day loan of $252,842.29 from BancABC. And, surprise, surprise, he didn’t repay the loan, leaving his aunt to deal with the consequences.
But wait, there’s more! Chikuni also convinced his cousin, Farai Chikuni, to release the title deed to his Glen Lorne property, valued at $600,000, to secure a 90-day loan of $225,000 from NMB Bank. And, you guessed it, he didn’t repay that loan either.
In total, the alleged fraud exposed the complainants to a combined potential loss of over $1 million in property value. But hey, who needs financial responsibility when you can just use your family members’ homes as collateral?
Chikuni was released on $500 bail and is set to appear in court on April 17. We’ll be keeping an eye on this one, because it’s always entertaining to see people try to get away with creative financing schemes.
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