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Posted to the web: 22/01/2009 09:26:21
A ZIMBABWEAN conman and his wife have been jailed for stealing nearly £50,000 from a Cambridge businessman in an elaborate con.

Claiming they were staging a concert by a world-famous gospel singer, Cecil Chipendo and his wife, Danai Tengende, forged cheques and supporting documents to dupe credit transfer agency Easypay into clearing cheques for them, Cambridge Crown Court heard.

The couple, born in Zimbabwe, were paid £48,960 by the financial services company run by Ron Bradney, former Ely mayor and respected businessman, after receiving cheques from supposed financial backers.

But the cheques bounced and the backers were invented.

By the time the fraud came to light, Chipendo had already spent the money on stays in luxury hotels, expensive hire cars and designer suits.

Chipendo used stolen identity information to convince the Littleport-based firm that he had financial backers for a spectacular gospel show at the Birmingham Symphony Hall, starring a gospel soul singer called Dietrich Padham. A Google search for Dietrich Padham yields no results.

He also faked emails from the Birmingham venue owners, Ticketmaster and members of the gospel singing community.

But the payments bounced and left Bradney's company, which was handling the finances for the concert, shouldering the debt.

When he was arrested Chipendo, 32, of Foxhollow, in Cambourne, eventually confessed his deception, as well as other attempts to steal another £50,000 from businesses in Darlington.

Bradney, a member of East Cambridgeshire District Council who set up his own chain of Atrium gyms, said: "He was a very creditable conman and we were taken in.

"It pushed the business very close to the edge, but we put more money into it and it has survived. It has been a real struggle, though."

Chipendo pleaded guilty to six charges of fraud, including attempts to obtain £20,000 and £30,000 from two bed firms and three failed attempts to extract cash from private bank accounts using stolen identity information.

Sentencing him to a total of two years and six months in prison, Judge Anthony Bate said: "This was a sophisticated and clever fraud on an unwitting business using identity information procured from some unknown source.

"The charade of this supposed gospel singing concert at the Birmingham Symphony Hall was a complete invention."

Tengende, a former Netherhall student, was jailed for a year after pleading guilty to one count of fraud.

Judge Bate adjourned the case for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing to reclaim the money as Chipendo, who served a five-month jail term in 2004 for dishonesty, claimed he had US$5 million in a Zimbabwean bank account.

However, tight fiscal restrictions in place under the Robert Mugabe regime meant he could not access the cash, the court was told.

He claimed this situation drove him to commit the fraud to fund his business interests.

Chipendo and his wife ran a company called Divine Events Management Consultants. On their website, the company says: "We pride ourselves in the level of service we deliver. We strive to be different, reliable and creative. Any size, any function we will make it happen and always delivering a high standard of quality and value for money to all our clients. We allow you to walk into your dreams and any vision you have of that special event."

They add that they are "big enough to manage and small enough to cope."

They also had another company called Innovate Marketing Ltd. On the company's website, they say their aim is to "revolutionalise the way in which Sales and Marketing is considered, and create a service that stands above all others in terms of performance, quality, dedication and energy."

As he was sent to jail, Chipendo wrote to friends on Facebook: "Cecil is taking a bow. I will be back." - Staff Reporter/Cambridge News
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