Controversial Marondera businessman Francesco Marconati is still languishing in remand prison in Bubi district’s Inyathi area after he was arrested last week on charges of possessing an unlicensed firearm.
Marconati’s lawyer, Tatenda Mutero told The Standard that the court sat late on Monday and Tuesday for bail determination. Mutero said proceedings were likely to continue today.
“The proceedings are still on going, once a determination is made, I am sure even the court will put it in the public domain,” he said.
Mutero said the court was still analysing submissions made by prosecutors and this could run for the whole week.
“Today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (today), we will be in court,” he said.
Marconati was arrested by the police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) last Wednesday on the gun charges.
The arrest followed the alleged fatal shooting of a 31-year-old man, Thabo Ngwenya, by a security guard at Marconati’s MineDGL5 while walking to the shops near the businessman’s mine.
Ngwenya was allegedly shot three times on the left side of his chest. Another man was injured on the right arm after he was shot while also going to the shops.
Maconati in denying possessing an unlicensed gun claimed that the fire arm belonged to DGL5 shareholders. However, investigations revealed that they were registered in his name.
The businessman also has an impending court case in which he was accused of discharging a firearm four times on a driver of his rival Siphosami Mtonsi in a mine ownership wrangle in 2021.
The case was reported at Inyathi Police Station, but police officers were accused of dragging their feet in investigating the matter.
After pressure from Mtonsi, the case is now set to be heard in court early next year, exactly five years after the shooting incident.
In another incident, one Nqobizitha Moyo was also allegedly shot in the eye by one of the businessman’s guards, but no one has been prosecuted over the matter.
Moyo claimed his efforts to ensure justice were being frustrated by the Inyathi police, who are now accused of covering up Marconati’s alleged criminal activities. The guard behind the shooting incident was allegedly promoted.
Some villagers in Inyathi and Marconati’s former workers have accused the police of protecting the businessman.
They claimed that in the past police allowed his workers to perform community service on his behalf in 2023 after he was convicted of threatening his former lover and business partner, Li Song outside the Harare magistrates court.
He had been sentenced to perform 105 hours community service at the police station.
His son Alessandro was also sentenced to also perform 105 hours community service at a local school for the same offence.
They both did not perform any community service, according to villagers and his former employees.
“The police officer in charge registered him as having conducted community service while knowing he didn’t even do it,” said one of the former employees. “His workers performed it on his behalf.”
The businessman’s workers allegedly provided the police officers with food and drinks.
Marconati allegedly provided the police station with paint so that he could submit a forged roster showing that he performed community service when he did not.
On most of the days he purportedly performed community service he was allegedly in Harare where he was attending to other criminal cases against him, the whistle blowers said.
An affidavit by Matheas Moyo, an inmate who was performing community service with Alessandro at Queens Primary School, also exposed the alleged scam.
Moyo claimed that Alessandro did not perform any community service as required by the law.
He alleged that some DGL5 employees were sent by Maronati to do the cleaning duties and that the headmaster falsely claimed that the businessman’s son had done the work.
“I humbly appeal to your respectable office to help us and justice to be served accordingly," Moyo wrote.
"I myself and others were denied the authority to have people standing in for us as I was not feeling well.
“I was told by the headmaster that it is not allowed by the law.
“We were surprised to see that the accused is being granted all the favours at the school as he came one time and just sat inside the headmaster's office chatting and laughing.”
He claimed that Alessandro would rush to the school in a white Landcruiser registration no. ADA 2951 when he was advised that the social welfare department would be visiting to check whether he was performing the community service. He would allegedly leave soon after their visit.
The issue was once a subject of investigation where some Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) officers were reported to the CID for allegedly protecting Marconati and Alessandro.
This is not the first time Marconati has been arrested for illegal possession of a gun.
In another incident, he allegedly pointed his gun at Chinese investors while trying to stop them from investing in a gold mine where he is only a 12.75% shareholder.
Marconati is said to be running the mine illegally and allegedly has 19 guns stored near the entrance of the mine.
Marconati was once convicted for fraud after allegedly submitting fake CR6 forms, which were never registered with the Deeds Office to several banks to boot out a business partner.
He was also convicted for theft of trust property in 2023.
Marconati was sentenced to five years in jail for fraud and forgery before he was released on bail pending appeal by the High Court.
In December 2024, a letter by concerned citizens raised alarm on the alleged selective application of the law favouring Marconati and said they feared that such protection will result in him running a criminal syndicate.