Long harm of the law caught up with an Harare Woman, who posed as a public prosecutor and defrauded a Gweru woman of US$1 900 on the pretext that she would facilitate the release of her husband from prison.

Joana Sibanda, who has been sentenced to three and a half years in jail, was reported to have approached Gladys Chikore, who had visited her husband at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison where he is serving 20 years for an undisclosed offence, and introduced herself as a public prosecutor.

38 year old Sibanda admitted to two charges of fraud and impersonating a public officer when she appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Tsatsawani Ndava. She was sentenced to five years in prison before suspending six months on condition of good behavior. Ms Ndava also set aside 12 months on the condition Sibanda restitutes US$1 900 to Chikore before December 31.

Sibanda, who pleaded for the court’s leniency, confessed that she committed the offence out of need to pay up her children’s school fees. But the prosecutor Ms Patience Chimusaru told the court that Sibanda committed the offence out of greed, thereby bringing the name of the Attorney-General’s Office into disrepute, and she pleaded for stiffer penalty since that would serve as deterrent to others.

It was explained that sometime last year when Chikore went to visit her husband at the Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, Sibanda approached her and presented herself as a public prosecutor. After being told by Chikore about her husband, Sibanda promised to assist in fast-tracking the release of the man from prison by requesting for a fee, as they exchanged numbers and departed

Sibanda called Chikore the following day and asked her to send the money, while Chikore complied and sent US$1 300 through Eco Cash. Both of them later met at Karigamombe Centre in Harare, where Chikore handed Sibanda the remaining balance, but after she had been paid, Sibanda went into thin-air, prompting Chikore to make a police report which led to Sibanda’s arrest.