Three people, among them, a retired Army officer and a government worker, have denied a charge in which they are alleged to have swindled a Lusaka woman out of K50,000, by lying that they had a plot to sell, when in fact not.

In this matter, 60 year-old Joseph Mudada, a retired Army officer of Chalala; 35 year-old Moses Ngowani, a bricklayer, also of Chalala and a 43 year-old Human Resource Management Officer, Alfred Kalaba of Chilenje South, are facing one count of obtaining money by false pretences.

It is alleged that the three, on October 4, 2017, Lusaka, jointly and whilst working together with intent to deceive or defraud, did obtain K50,000 from Violet Nthembi by purporting that they had a plot to sell when in fact not.

And when the matter came up for plea before magistrate Silvia Munyinya, Tuesday, the accused persons all denied the charge.

Magistrate Munyinya however noted that the first and second accused persons had not been consistent with attending court sessions before taking their plea.

Asked why they had been missing court as they were supposed to take plea last month, the second accused said he didn’t know which court to go to, whereas the first accused said he was in Solwezi.

She warned them that if their attendance did not improve, their bail would be revoked.

“If you want to continue with your police bond, you have to be consistent. Going forward, if I see that your attendance is not good, I will remand you in custody. This matter was allocated in December but you are only taking plea today,” she said.

The matter comes up on February 8, 2019, for trial.