A gaming company Bezbets has been convicted by a Harare Court after they refused to pay a punter who had won a US$5 400 bet.
The company represented by Robson Chinamasa was convicted after a full trial by Harare magistrate Simon Kandiyero who remanded them to Friday for sentencing.
Bezbets had refused to pay the punter alleging he had used more state money than accepted.
But the punter argued that there were no terms and conditions on the game he was playing.
He further submitted that he used to play the game with similar money but unfortunately lost and they did not complain.
However Kandiyero ruled that the company misrepresented to the complainant and committed fraud.
The magistrate said the company was not honest after the punter won but when the punter lost after using the same figure they would ignore but only acted when they lost.
The punter placed a bet with US394 and won US$5 400. The company then filed a counter charge of fraud against the punter which was later declined by National Prosecuting Authority for lack of evidence.
The company also disabled the punters online account and he also reported them to the Gaming board.
Another court application was filed with the civil court to compel the company to pay.
The court heard that on October 26, last year at Bezbets online platform, the complainant alleges that he placed a bet on the roulette with a stake of US$394.
The platform gave him a potential winning of US$5400 provided the bet won.
The complainant won the bet and he proceeded to the shop to withdraw his winning bet with a sum of US$5400.
However, th3 court heard that Chinamasa refused to make a payout of US$5400 and instead offered US$1 800.
The complainant realisng that he had been duped he filed a report with the police leading to their arrest.
