THE trial of Chinese national Li Song who is accused of theft of trust property and externalisation involving US$6 million has been moved to August 30 to allow the State to verify some documents which are allegedly key to the case.
Song had produced a document of alleged fund acquittals which formed the bases of the externalization allegations.
During police investigations, Ecobank provided a statement indicating that Eagle Italian Shoes (Private) Limited had outstanding acquittals related to import documentation.
The hearing was postponed to August 30, 2024, to allow for further investigation.
The complainant in this case is Eagle Italian Shoe Company being represented by Kutaura Bond Taderera. The accused is Song who is a former Director of the same company.
Eagle Italian Shoes specializes in producing leather footwear, catering to both domestic and global markets.
Throughout the auditing period, the firm maintained two types of bank accounts—those denominated in Local Currency and those in Foreign Currency—with both Ecobank Limited and another local bank.
The agreement for each bank account stipulated that any authorized person could execute transactions.
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A bank signatory and director at the time, Song allegedly exploited the arrangment to authorize payments to Jacaranda Consulting Services and Skyone Import and Export Company, both foreign entities.
It is the State’s case that according to the audit findings, between June 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021, a total sum of US$809,407.83 was disbursed to these 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 span of three years, culminating on December 31, 2016.
There are no bills of entry or commercial invoices to substantiate that goods and services were indeed delivered to Eagle Italian Shoes (Private) Limited for all the payments made.
This lack of documentation led to the suspension of the company’s accounts with its two banks due to the failure to present bills of entry.
Following investigations, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe furnished the police with details regarding auction allotments and foreign payments allocated to Eagle Italian Shoes Company and its subsidiary companies.
Specifically, DGL Investments Number Nine received auction allotments totaling USD$859,880.80, and through this entity, the accused made foreign payments amounting to USDS1,659,851.10.
Another company, Strengthened Investments (Pvt) Ltd, received auction allotments worth US$1,018,101.21.
The accused person allegedly proceeded to make foreign payments totaling US$1,129,311.96 through this entity.
Additionally, Eagle Italian Shoes Pvt Ltd, which also benefited from auction allotments valued at US$430,407.83, executed foreign payments amounting to USD$51,058,407.52 utilizing the same company.
Song is also facing theft of trust property involving US$1 214 608.49.
