A HARARE couple facing a US$100 million fraud charge told the court that it is being persecuted by people with connections in government.
Clark Makoni and his wife Beverly are facing fraud charges.
The complainant is Valley Lodge (Pvt) Ltd, a registered company which was being represented by George Mashonganyika.
Through its lawyer Admire Rubaya, the couple argued that there were powerful forces in the government behind their case.
“The accused person further asserts that these are clearly malicious, frivolous and vexatious allegations being peddled by the complainant in connivance with those who occupy certain positions of influence within the law enforcement agencies or other government-linked institutions who maliciously caused their arrest without any shred of evidence to justify their arrest and/or prosecution,” Rubaya submitted in court.
The State, however, argued that the couple had a case to answer and magistrate Stanford Mambanje will hand down his judgment today.
The two are owners of Ark Properties (Pvt) Ltd, an estate agent company appointed by the complainant as managers of Valley Lodge in Mutare.
According to the State, in July 2017, the complainant engaged the services of the accused persons to manage Valley Lodge, among other properties.
On August 10, 2017, the couple allegedly forged a CR14 form in which Clark appointed himself director and company secretary and Beverly as his deputy.
Armed with the forged CR14 form, the two are said to have approached ZB Bank Mutare, Valley Lodge’s bank.
They misrepresented to the bank that they were the new shareholders and wanted to change signatories to bank accounts.
The State said the couple then fraudulently took over the complainant’s company and gained access to its bank accounts and stole money.
The actual prejudice is US$137 736 500, the State is alleging.
