Wendall 'duped' over Great Zimbabwe flights

Wendall with some school children

A PROJECT fronted by Big Brother star Wendall Parson to fly thousands of school children to the Great Zimbabwe has been halted after the man organising the trips was revealed as a con artist. Wendall, a trained pilot, was excited after being approached by a company called Nu-Aero, trading as Fresh Air, to fly thousands of kids from around the country to the historic stone monument in Masvingo. But after just one trip, the flights were halted – dashing the hopes of thousands of kids who looked forward to their first ever flight.

Now Wendall says he was duped by Matipedza Karase – the organiser of the so-called AvTour – into lending his support to the scheme which now threatens to spill into the courts. Wendall’s mum and manager Gillian Jackson told New Zimbabwe.com on Wednesday that lawyers had been brought in to recover money owed to the 2011 Big Brother Africa winner under a contract signed with Nu-Aero.

Wendall, Fresh Air Crew and Karase

She said: “Wendall was duped into thinking this project would benefit thousands of children that would normally never get a chance to fly and visit Great Zimbabwe.“The idea sold to us was that a chartered plane would fly low over Great Zimbabwe, land and the children would have lunch and spend an hour sightseeing. They would also take pictures with Wendall in the cockpit.

“Wendall was overjoyed that he could interact with the children. Had this project worked according to plan, it would have been a brilliant initiative for the children but it seems Fresh Air thought of no-one but themselves. “They are villains who have no problem breaking the hearts of children.”

Wendall has appointed Harare lawyer Harrison Nkomo to go after Fresh Air and its founder Karase.

On a Facebook page especially created for the tours, Karase said: “In view of circumstances beyond our jurisdiction and or capacity to influence and control, we reluctantly cannot provide or service the advertised trip to Masvingo and the Great Zimbabwe by air. “It's not easy to be posting this up, believe me. We have gone to great lengths to avoid it but sometimes not everything we plan for goes the way we expect it to.”

Continuing, he appeared to suggest the tours had been hit by political meddling.

He went on: “Imagine if your organisation was in the process of applying for a licence whilst you are running a certain project and the powers-that-be ask you to stop the projects. You have no choice but to stop. You get it?” Hundreds of children from more than a dozen schools around Harare had already paid US$70 each to go on the trips, but only 106 students and 12 parents from Vainona Primary School took part in the first and only flight on an Air Zimbabwe B737 on November 17. Wendall’s mum says they were horrified when they finally learned about Karase criminal links.

Described by associates as a “slightly deluded snake oil salesman” and having “an exaggerated sense of self worth”, Karase was arrested in May 2010 over a US$17,000 swindle targeting Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) CEO, Karikoga Kaseke. The case, still before Harare magistrates, is built around allegations that Karase and his alleged accomplice, Forbes Zaranyika, told Kaseke that they could register his company, Royal Zimbabwe Airlines, with the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The pair, it is alleged, received US$9,400 from Kaseke in two batches. After the second payment, they told the ZTA boss they had secured a temporary registration which could be made permanent if he transferred a further US$7,800 into IATA’s Standard Chartered account in the United States. In reality, prosecutors say, the bank account belonged to Karase’s girlfriend who quickly withdrew the money and sent it back to Zimbabwe through a money transfer agency. Police recovered US$7,000 from Karase.

Just before Christmas last year, Karase was arrested on a robbery charge together with Harare socialite Mercy Nhodza. He is currently out on bail and reports weekly to the Criminal Investigations Department in Harare. His father, Chakanyuka Karase, is the vice president of the Zimpapers board – publishers of the Herald and Chronicle newspapers. On his Twitter account, the younger Karase boasts of a friendship with Virgin Atlantic boss Richard Branson, and claims to be a millionaire. Just on Monday this week, Karase tweeted Branson saying: “Get in touch Richard, it’s been too long.”

He doesn’t appear to have received a reply. In another tweet on August 5 last year, he wrote: “Things happening, monies being moved and time aint slowing down... I need a break from being successful, it gets so stressful man!!!” He claims on Google+ that he is a Chief Operating Officer for Fresh Air and provides a link for the company’s website. On the website, Fresh Air – which claims a partnership with Air Zimbabwe – is described as “Zimbabwe's first low cost Air Services Provider”.

It adds: “We have the best airfares between a large number of towns and cities across the country. We make flying a pleasure, no hassle, no delays. We are a wholly owned Zimbabwe company with years of experience in the aviation industry.” (NewZimbabwe.com)