MORTGAGE lending giant, Central Africa Building Society (CABS) has been dragged to court for contempt after it allegedly released funds that had been frozen by the state in a US$234 000 fraud case.
The state alleges CABS released US$45 000, which was held in an account belonging to Andrew Jubane’s, which was believed to be part of the US$234 000 cash defrauded from Universal Transport Services (UTS) by one Malvern Chimutashu in 2017.
It is the State's case that when the fraud case was reported in 2017, police issued two warrants of search and seizure to freeze the funds. On June 14, 2017, police issued a warrant of search and seizure prohibiting transfers of the funds. CABS complied and froze Jubane’s account, the court heard.
On November 3, 2023, Chimutashu was convicted of fraud and the court ordered that the US$45 000 held in Jubane's CABS account be released to UTS.
On February 9, Diza Attorneys, lawyers of Universal Transport Services represented by its director, Blessmore Chanakira, received a letter from CABS stating that Jubane’s account had no funds and that it was dormant.
Police later obtained a bank statement (stamped April 12, 2024) from CABS, which revealed that between April 3, 2018, and April 12, 2018, CABS allowed transactions to be made through debiting Jubane's account with purchases and cash withdrawals until the funds were exhausted in breach of the court.
In a warned and cautioned statement, CABS represented by Tafadzwa Mutsa Makoni, who is the legal and governance manager, denied the charges saying the financial institution released the funds following the conversion of funds, which were in United States dollar denomination to the Zimbabwean dollar in 2019.
The conversions were a Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe exchange control directive under Statutory Instrument 33 of 2019, which converted from United States dollars to RTGS dollars at a rate of 1:1.
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“CABS denies the charges as put to it because the account was frozen in 2017…In 2019 the balance sitting to the credit of the account was converted from US dollar to Zimbabwe dollar by operation of law, thus leaving the balance to the credit of the account at $45 000,” Makoni said in the statement.
“CABS offered to tender payment of ZW$45 000 to the complainant, Zimbabwe dollar being the currency of the account at the time when the judgment was handed down in November 2023.”
The matter was brought before the courts on May 14 and the trial is expected to start on June 12. The case is being heard before Harare Magistrate Simon Kandiyero and the state is represented by public prosecutor Takudzwa Jambawu.
