Taurai Prosper Vanhuvaone lost his bid to cut his prison term for posing as a medic in Bulawayo. At Mpilo Central Hospital, he went by Prosper Mpofu. At 29, he was seeing sick people there.
He was found guilty of fraud and of writing drug scripts without a license. The judge gave him seven years, though some of it was put on hold if he paid his victims back. That left 42 months to serve.
Vanhuvaone wanted his jail terms to count at the same time. If that had worked, he could have spent less time in jail. Tanaka Muganyi gave the brief to Tinashe Runganga, a lawyer at Tanaka Law Chambers.
Justices Munamato Mutevedzi and Bongani Ndlovu said no. The acts were spread over years, not done all at once. The first judge got to choose how the terms would be served. And Mutevedzi felt the state went easy on him.
His claims about school kept changing. First, he named National University of Science and Technology (NUST). A witness from there said his claim was false. Then he said he went to a school in South Africa, but the court said it was not real. Medusa came up as well. He even admitted he was not qualified.
One nurse-aide trainee lost US$1,600. He said he could get her a place to train at Mpilo. One drug script also had odd notes on lacto, grapes, and apples. Doctors took note of the script, and that helped them catch him.
The risk to sick people came up as well. Mutevedzi said more people could have faced harm if he had kept up the sham. It could make people less sure they can trust the care at Mpilo.
He was found guilty of fraud and of writing drug scripts without a license. The judge gave him seven years, though some of it was put on hold if he paid his victims back. That left 42 months to serve.
Vanhuvaone wanted his jail terms to count at the same time. If that had worked, he could have spent less time in jail. Tanaka Muganyi gave the brief to Tinashe Runganga, a lawyer at Tanaka Law Chambers.
Justices Munamato Mutevedzi and Bongani Ndlovu said no. The acts were spread over years, not done all at once. The first judge got to choose how the terms would be served. And Mutevedzi felt the state went easy on him.
His claims about school kept changing. First, he named National University of Science and Technology (NUST). A witness from there said his claim was false. Then he said he went to a school in South Africa, but the court said it was not real. Medusa came up as well. He even admitted he was not qualified.
One nurse-aide trainee lost US$1,600. He said he could get her a place to train at Mpilo. One drug script also had odd notes on lacto, grapes, and apples. Doctors took note of the script, and that helped them catch him.
The risk to sick people came up as well. Mutevedzi said more people could have faced harm if he had kept up the sham. It could make people less sure they can trust the care at Mpilo.
