A CHINESE national, William Link Chui and his co-accused Edwinah West (39) who are being charged with fraud involving US$1 million in an E-Creator ponzi scheme, appeared before Harare Magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa on Tuesday.
Chui is being jointly charged with West, Trymore Tapfumaneyi and Justin Kuchekenya who have also been denied bail on grounds of being flight risks.
E-Creator came into the limelight after promising investors quick money through sharing positive reviews on e-commerce sites worldwide.
State prosecutor Pardon Dziva told the court that sometime in January this year, Chui, who is a digital expert and West teamed up with Tapfumaneyi and Kuchekenya to defraud Zimbabweans through the ponzi scheme.
On February 7, Tapfumaneyi and Kuchekenya registered a company with the Registrar of Companies and named it E-Creator Electronic Commerce [Private] Limited with its offices located at Joina City building, Harare.
lt is alleged that during the period from February to July the accused persons misrepresented to unsuspecting Zimbabweans that if they invest with the company, they would earn huge monthly profits.
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As such many Zimbabweans across the country flocked to join the scheme and invested an estimated US$1 million through various EcoCash numbers supplied on the platform by the accused.
On July 5, 2023 complainants were shocked to realise that E-Creator Electronic Commerce Private) Limited had posted on its website that it was no longer operating and they reported Jiatong as the one who had allegedly swindled them and fled to China.
The complainants also visited the accused’s offices and there was no one.
They got information that the accused persons had withdrawn the money and fled.
The police conducted investigations which revealed that the accused persons did not invest the money as promised, but transferred it into their personal accounts.
The accused persons will appear in court today for routine remand.