Zim GBC News | Regional Desk
FRANCISTOWN, Botswana – A Zimbabwean man has been arrested in Botswana for allegedly posing as a telecommunications official and defrauding a elderly woman of over P80,000.
Walter Chizivisano (33) appeared before the Francistown Magistrates Court last Thursday facing theft charges, twenty months after the alleged crime took place.
According to court documents, Chizivisano is accused of scamming 67-year-old Baboloki Khakhe out of P82,441.70 by pretending to be an employee of the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC).
The court heard that the complainant received a phone call in June 2024 from someone claiming she had won P500 worth of airtime bundles. After initially expressing scepticism, Khakhe eventually followed the caller’s cellphone banking instructions, only to discover a substantial amount of money had been withdrawn from her Standard Chartered account shortly afterwards.
“The accused person is a foreigner with travelling documents. Our problem with him being granted bail is that our investigations are at the initial stage, and part of the proceeds of crime have not been recovered,” Prosecutor Gasemotho Pitagano told the court.
Pitagano opposed bail application, stating that investigators are still in the early phases of their probe.
“Since he wants to engage an attorney, he should bring him on the next mention. We plead that he be remanded in custody for seven days while we wait for his attorney.”
The court heard that a warrant for Chizivisano’s arrest was issued on December 29 last year, with police finally apprehending him on January 17 after he had been on the run for 20 months. Reports indicate that part of the stolen money was allegedly used to purchase a Honda Fit vehicle.
In his defence, Chizivisano maintained his innocence before the magistrate.
“I am not the one who stole the money; my name was just used,” he told the court.
The matter was initially reported to police on June 7, 2024, but investigations progressed slowly until recent breakthroughs led authorities to the suspect.
His bail application was ultimately unsuccessful, and he remains in custody pending further legal proceedings.
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