SOCIALITE Felistas Murata, popularly known as Mai Titi, will be sentenced today after she was convicted yesterday of theft of trust property.
Murata applied for bail pending sentence, but magistrate Munashe Chibanda turned down the request and remanded her in custody.
Chibanda ruled that the State had proved a prima facie case against her.
The court heard that sometime in September 2022, in Harare, Murata unlawfully and intentionally misrepresented to Rachel Mhuka that she was in need of US$10 000 for her business venture.
She promised to give Mhuka a Mercedes Benz vehicle as surety for the loan which she undertook to pay back by November 30 last year.
She, however, did this while aware that the vehicle did not belong to her, the court heard.
Acting on the misrepresentation, Mhuka gave Murata the money.
Murata later claimed back the Mercedes Benz saying it did not belong to her and gave her another vehicle, an Audi Q5 which she again took back before submitting an invalid passport as surety.
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When the complainant realised that the passport was invalid, she confronted Murata who immediately returned the second vehicle.
The court also heard that sometime in January this year, officers from Rhodesville Police Station in Harare approached Mhuka and seized the car saying it had been stolen from Else Event Car Hire.
This was after the company represented by Liberty Vazhura, reported Murata for theft of trust property.
The State further said Murata had hired the vehicle on September 29 last year and pledged to make weekly payments of US$770.
The complainant failed to make the weekly payments and became evasive until the matter was reported to the police.
