The State has withdrawn fraud charges against incarcerated comedienne Felistas Murata, popularly known as Mai TT, after establishing that she had repaid the complainant’s money. The case was heard before Harare magistrate Ms. Appollonia Marutya.
According to the State’s case, in September 2022, at the corner of Second Street and Speke Avenue in Harare, Murata allegedly unlawfully and intentionally misrepresented to the complainant, Rachel Mhuka, that she needed US$10,000 for her business venture. In return, she promised to provide her Mercedes Benz vehicle (registration number AFF9759) as surety for the loan, with an undertaking to repay it by November 30 of the same year. However, it was later discovered that the vehicle did not belong to Murata.
Mhuka gave Murata the money based on this misrepresentation. Subsequently, Murata replaced the Mercedes Benz with an Audi Q5 (registration AFG3701) and later exchanged it for an invalid passport as additional surety. When Mhuka realized the passport was invalid, she confronted Murata, who promptly returned the second vehicle.
In January of this year, police from Rhodesville seized the car after Else Event Car Hire reported Murata for theft of trust property. The company, represented by **Liberty Vazhura**, alleged that Murata had stolen their property.
Murata is currently serving a nine-month jail sentence after being convicted of theft of trust property in June.
