By Patson Chilemba
Police have arrested suspected fraudsters after they attempted to swindle Kabwata Baptist Church of K350,000 over a land purchase in Silverest, using forged details for Chadiza member of parliament Jonathan Daka.
And police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga said Kabwata police were holding two persons in custody, Jonathan Banda, 49, of Chalala and female Mulenga Katongo, 32, of Lilayi, for allegedly attempting to fraudulently sale land belonging to MP Daka.
Kabwata Baptist Church treasurer Joseph Kakoma narrated to Daily Revelation that the Church has been looking to buy land for the construction of a structure. He said in searching, the Church came across an advertised land in Silverest, and that he contacted the agent to show him where the said land was, and saw that it suited their requirement as it was a 50×50 piece which was initially going for K500,000.
He said later on, he saw that the land was being advertised for K350,000, saying the sellers claimed they had done so because of the “Black Friday” issues.
Kakoma said at that point the Church thought that K350,000 was a good price, and that he immediately contacted the agent demanding to meet the owner of the said land in question, but that the agent told him to pay as soon as possible if they were interested as the owners were asking for cash.
But he argued that he could not be moving around with cash, saying all the processes needed to be followed, including signing an agreement before making any payment. He said the agent caved in, and called in the purported owner who availed him with a copy of the title for the said land and a copy of the NRC, saying they looked genuine and that even the lawyers they engaged to verify the details on the title said everything was intact.
However, Kakoma said the newness of the NRC for a man who was in his 50s made him uncomfortable, including the desperation for payment and that he was alarmed when the bank details the gentleman provided were those of a woman. He said when he inquired why the gentleman had provided him with banking details for a woman, the gentleman argued that the details were for his wife, claiming that he was just being a responsible husband who wanted to be transparent with his wife.
He said that meeting was happening on a Friday and they agreed to meet up the following Monday to finalise the agreement, saying he proposed that they would make an initial payment of K200,000 on the same Monday and the remaining K150,000 after all the details were verified, but that the seller resisted demanding a K300,000 down payment.
Kakoma said he left that meeting feeling uncomfortable and spent the weekend doing a search on the internet on who this purported Jonathan Daka was, but the image that was coming was that of Chadiza member of parliament Daka, but “I said this can’t be the one.”
He said he then decided to search for the details of one of the signatories who had signed as a witness on the title, saying he found the name and managed to contact someone he knew who was a friend on Facebook of the said person, saying when he inquired and was provided the contact details of the same person, the lady confirmed that the land details Kakoma was mentioning marched those belonging to them.
He said they then lured the land seller into a meeting and managed to have him apprehended by the police, including the lady whose banking details he provided them with.
He said the real owner of the land he had spoken to also arrived at Kabwata police station, together with her husband MP Daka, saying despite that the forger insisted that the land belonged to him, but he gave himself away when Daka asked him to sign his signature after him.
Kakoma said the police also searched the gentleman’s bag where they found a plain paper filled with purported fake signatures.
He said the alleged fraudsters are currently being held at Kabwata police station, with Hamoonga saying that they would appear in court soon.
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