THE case in which a local businessman is being jointly charged with his wife of fraudulently transferring former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono’s property into their names and taking ZWL137 736 500 commenced yesterday with the State leading evidence from the first witness.
Clark Clever Makoni (40) and Beverly Aisha Ndonda Makoni (37) appeared before Harare regional magistrate Stanford Mambanje charged with fraud as defined in Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
The complainant is Galwex Investments (Pvt) Ltd represented by George Mashonganyika as the special projects executive.
Galwex Investments (Pvt) Ltd is a private company and is the holding company of both Lizack Holdings (Pvt) Ltd and Valley Lodge (Pvt) Ltd, which Clark and Beverly allegedly transferred to themselves.
Prosecutor Heather Muwokoto alleged that on October 30, 2009, Costick Investments (Pvt) Ltd sold all its shares in Lizack and Valley Lodge to Galwex Investments (Pvt) Ltd and sometime in 2017, Mashonganyika assigned Ark Properties, a company owned by Clark and Beverly to manage Valley Lodges (Pvt) Ltd, as the estate agents.
Muwokoto told the court that in August 2017, Clark fraudulently changed the directorship of Valley Lodge (Private) Ltd without the knowledge of the complainant.
On August 10, 2017, Clark filed a fraudulent CR14 form to the Registrar of Companies in which he imposed himself and his wife Beverly as the sole directors of Valley Lodge.
According to the prosecutor, investigations established that the Makonis went to ZB Bank Holdings with the fraudulent CR14 form and misrepresented that they were the signatories of Valley Lodge.
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Thereafter, the accused persons allegedly withdrew substantial amounts of money from the account and converted it to their personal use.
The State further alleged that since 2017 when they fraudulently took over the company, the accused all along declared that the company was making losses, leading to Galwex Investments instituting an internal audit to look into the performance of Valley Lodge and other subsidiary companies.
The court heard that it was during the internal audit process that it was established that Valley Lodge had been fraudulently taken over by the accused persons.
While testifying in court, Mashonganyika mentioned that Gono was the director for Galwex.
He said on October 2, 2023, he carried out spot checks in the presence of one Mitchell Nongongo and Lindiwe Sebeka on the properties portfolio managed by Ark Properties, that included Valley Lodge.
“It became apparent that the accused persons had corruptly and fraudulently changed the directorship of Valley Lodge (Pvt) Ltd without our knowledge and authority,” he told the court.
He accused Clark of producing a different CR14 form during the investigations.
“During the spot checks, Makoni produced a different CR14 form for Valley Lodge (Pvt) Ltd at Mutare Central Police Station before Assistant Inspector Gapa (Investigations) wherein he claimed that Ndonda and himself were the directors and owners of Valley Lodge (Pvt) Ltd. The CR14 he produced to the police was the evidence of such directorship and ownership,” Mushonganyika revealed.
He further submitted that on November 3, 2023, a request was made to the Registrar of Company requesting a certified copy for the CR14 form and any change of directorship of Valley Lodge.
The trial will continue on Tuesday.
