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Fungai Jachi Court Reporter
Former Harare MDC-T councillor Friday Mleya, who is on remand on allegations of duping Blinkford Engineering company of $76 000, has been further remanded to today for a trial date.Mleya (39) appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Milton Serima facing theft of trust property charges. Mr Serima indicated that he was going to remove Mleya from remand if the State failed to provide him with a trial date.

Prosecutor Mr Sebastian Mutizirwa alleged that sometime in 2012, Blinkford Engineering applied for land from the City of Harare. Mleya, who was a councillor at that time, started assisting the company and eventually they were allocated stand number 19797 Salisbury township lands, Braeside, Harare. It is alleged that the stand measures 14 000 square metres. Mleya purported to be the director of the company, Blinkford Engineering, during the transactions.

The court heard that in May this year, Mleya was given a mandate to sell the lease on behalf of Blinkford Engineering. Mleya successfully sold the lease to Pink Stallion (Pvt) Ltd for $300 000. He received $100 000, and pocketed $76 000 after paying service charges