THE trial of Chinese national Li Song for theft of trust property and externalisation of US$6 million has been moved to August 30 to allow the State to verify a document which is key to the case.
Li produced a document of alleged fund acquittals, which formed the basis of the externalisation allegations.
During police investigations, EcoBank provided a statement indicating that Eagle Italian Shoes (Pvt) Limited had outstanding acquittals related to import documentation.
The complainant in this case is Eagle Italian Shoes (Pvt) Limited, represented by Kutaura Bond Taderera.
The accused is Li, who is a former director of the same company.
Eagle Italian Shoes specialises in leather footwear, catering for both domestic and global markets.
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Throughout the audited period, the firm maintained two types of bank accounts with EcoBank Limited and another local bank.
The agreement for each bank account stipulated that any authorised person could process transactions.
A bank signatory and director at the time, Li allegedly exploited the arrangement to authorise payments to Jacaranda Consulting Services and SkyOne Import and Export Company, both foreign entities.
The State alleged that according to the audit findings, between June 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021, US$809 407,83 was disbursed to the two overseas firms.
An audit uncovered that the company had outstanding acquittals totalling US$405 200,66 from its available funds for payments made via a local bank over a period of three years dating back to December 31, 2016.
There were no bills of entry or commercial invoices to substantiate that goods and services were, indeed, delivered to Eagle Italian Shoes for payments made.
This lack of documentation led to the suspension of the company’s accounts with its two banks.
Following investigations, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe furnished the police with details regarding auction allotments and foreign payments allocated to Eagle Italian Shoes and its subsidiary companies.
Specifically, DGL Investments Number Nine received auction allotments totalling US$859 880,80 and through this entity, the accused person allegedly made foreign payments amounting to US$1 659 851,10.
Another company, Strengthened Investments (Pvt) Ltd, received auction allotments worth US$1 018 101,21.
The accused person allegedly proceeded to make foreign payments totalling US$1 129 311,96 through this entity.
Additionally, Eagle Italian Shoes, which also benefited from auction allotments of US$430 407,83, executed foreign payments amounting to US$51 058 407,52 utilising the same company.
Li is also facing a theft of trust property charge involving US$1 214 608,49.