Ex-Miss Princess Zimbabwe Model Dupes 5 Models Of US$10 000 In Botched Dubai Modelling Event
Former Miss Princess Zimbabwe model Mercy “Catwalk” Mushaninga appeared in court on Friday on charges of duping five models of a combined US$10 000 in a botched Dubai modelling event.
Two of the models are stranded in Dubai and receiving assistance at the Zimbabwe embassy, according to NewsDay Zimbabwe.
Mushaninga (47) appeared before magistrate Dennis Mangosi who remanded her in custody until Monday for a bail ruling.
What happened:
The State alleges that sometime in August 2022, Mushaninga invited the complainants to participate in the 6th Miss Universal VIP World 2022 and the 16th Little Miss Universe Beauty Pageant event in Dubai scheduled for October 2022 25 to 30.
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Mushaninga asked complainants to pay for their own air ticket fees, visa fees and accommodation through her.
They paid varying amounts of up to US$2 900 totalling US$10 200.
The complainants only discovered that they had been duped on October 24 on the scheduled date of travel.
One angry parent who chose anonymity said they gathered at Mercy’s offices located at 23 Lezard Avenue Milton Park on 25 October and she told them that she did not manage to get the visas.
They said Mercy, the founder of Zim Gossip Models Agency, told them that she did not have the money and that she would only reimburse them on Wednesday 26 October.
The angry parents handed her over to the police at Harare Central Police Station where she was thrown into the police cells.
Mercy has been in the modelling industry for over two decades and holds a record of grooming models who make it to the top in different pageants.
Meanwhile, the Dubai pageant started on October 25 and is scheduled to end on 30 October in Dubai which means that the Zimbabwean contestants could not make it on time.
