Harare property developer George Katsimberis has taken deputy prosecutor general Michael Reza to task for claiming that he doctored transcripts of his fraud trial to scandalise the court.
Kastimberis, who wants his case where he is accused of defrauding businessman Ken Sharpe’s Pokugara Properties in a housing project deal referred to the Constitutional Court (ConCourt), accuses Reza of trying to influence the outcome of the trial in favour of his erstwhile business partners.
During cross examination by his lawyer Tino Chinyoka before Harare magistrate Vongai Guriro on Wednesday, the property developer said the court record was doctored to prejudice his ConCourt bid.
Katsimberis said the transcript had missing pages, his responses during court hearings were doctored and some sections deemed to be helpful to his case were deliberately omitted.
Sections deemed unfavourable to Pokugara were also removed from the record, he said.
In response, Reza claimed the doctored transcript was created by Katsimberis to scandalise the court even though it bears the signatures of the magistrate and a transcriber.
The businessman insisted that he was given the document by the clerk of court after the intervention of the magistrate.
“This document is your creation, you created it and you can not purport that it came from this honourable court because there is nothing that shows that it came from the court,” Reza charged.
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“You went to town and had this typed and you made all these alterations.
“That is what you did. You have brought your own forged document because you want to scandalise this court.”
Katsimberis said Reza must now be cross examined to prove his “wild allegations” under oath.
“To answer you, it is obvious that you did it and for you to say I went to town and had it typed, you need to be cross-examined,” he charged.
“In my view, if anything of what you say has an inch of logic, what is missing in there should not be to your benefit, that of Tatiana Aleshina (Sharpe’s aide) and the benefit of Pokugara, the complainant, but to myself.
“The document could not be against me. You need to be examined for those allegations.”
Reza also claimed that Katsimberis’ reasons for going to the ConCourt were baseless because his rights had not been violated, a submission that was rejected by the businessman.
“If you don’t see any right that has been trampled on, my constitutional rights violated in 20 ways, if in your view you don’t see any right violated, you need to have your head examined,” he shot back.
Guriro had to intervene and ordered Katsimberis to stop making insinuations that Reza was insane.
Reza and Guriro have repeatedly refused to recuse themselves from the trial after Katsimberis accused them of showing obvious bias and this prompted the ConCourt application.
The property developer accuses the two of being Sharpe’s hired guns and he repeated the claim against Reza on Wednesday.
Chinyoka had to intervene to stop Reza’s combative cross-examination and asked the top prosecutor to avoid being personal.
He asked him to be “as objective as possible and not subjective.”
“What he cannot do is argue with the witness (Katsimberis),” Chinyoka said.
“The problem with this case is that Mr Reza is too close to the testimony.
“He is mentioned as a player in the evidence, so as a human being he feels offended if something is said about him.”
He added: “What he cannot do here is to say Reza is mentioned and I should defend Reza.
“Mr Katsimberis is the one on trial and he should be allowed to make his answers and then the court will make an assessment.”
Katsimberis alleged that the court transcript was doctored to ensure his conviction and that his appeal does not succeed.
He said the manipulation court records were meant to suit Reza, Aleshina, Pokugara and Sharpe’s interests.
When asked by Chinyoka whether it was possible that Aleshina, who has been invoking President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s name in the trial and barking orders to Harare City Council officials, masterminded the doctoring of the transcript Katsimberis said he was 100% sure that this was what happened.
He pointed out to some letters by Aleshina and her lawyers, Chinawa Law Chambers presented in court as exhibit two, which showed that she had several meetings with Harare City Council officials.
The officials were also accused people in a police report by Katsimberis He said the meetings between the officials and Aleshina was tantamount to interfering with witnesses.
Katsimberis said the meetings were held to change the narrative to incriminate him.
He accused Reza of doctoring letters dated June 26, 2019 to suit Pokugara Properties’s case and denied providing a copy of the letter, which does not form the police record.
“This letter of 26 June is a creation of Mr Reza, it did not come from anywhere,” Katsimberis said.
“That is why we are asking for police record that Mr Reza will not supply because he created the letter when investigating the case to try to make it balanced.
“He is trying to do what he is paid for,” Katsimberis added, as he insisted that Reza was compromised and had an unprofessional relationship with Aleshina.
