Harare magistrate Simon Kandiyero has convicted betting company Bezbets for refusing to pay a punter who had won a US$5 400 bet.
The company’ representative Robson Chinamasa was remanded to Friday for sentencing.
Bezbets had refused to pay the punter alleging he had used more State money than accepted.
But the punter argued that there were no terms and conditions on the game he was playing.
He further submitted that he used to play the game before with similar amounts of money with the betting company not raising any issues.
Kandiyero ruled that the company misrepresented to the complainant and committed fraud.
The magistrate said the company was not honest after the punter won, but when the punter lost after using the same figure, they would ignore but only acted when they lost.
The punter placed a bet with US$394 and won US$5 400. The company then filed a counter charge of fraud against the punter which was later declined by the National Prosecuting Authority for lack of evidence.
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The company also disabled the punter’s online account.
The punter went further and reported the matter to the Gaming Board. He also filed another application with the civil court to compel the company to pay his dues.
The court heard that on October 26 last year at Bezbets online platform, the complainant placed a bet on the roulette with a stake of US$394.
The platform gave him a potential winning of US$5400 provided the bet won.
The complainant won the bet and he proceeded to the shop to withdraw his winning bet with a sum of US$5400.
However, the court heard that Chinamasa refused to make a payout of US$5400 and instead offered US$1 800.
The complainant, realising that he had been duped, reported the matter to the police.
