In discharging Nyakujara, Harare regional magistrate Mr
Ngoni Nduna said the State had failed to prove a prima facie case against the
accused person. “The state has failed to prove a case against the accused
person and therefore, she is hereby found not guilty and discharged,” he said.
The complainants were Grant Chitate and Nellie Mohadi of
Grant Wellington and Thulisa Private Limited, who are fuel and liquified
petroleum gas (LPG) dealers.
It was said in June this year, Chitate was approached by a
business colleague, Beadle Gwasira who operates a grocery wholesale business.
Gwasira wanted someone with a bank account in South Africa
to pay for his goods worth R4 million and would settle the equivalent in local
currency.
Chitate, who operates a South African account with FNB
Bank, then transferred the R4 million from his account to Gwasira’s supplier
who also holds an FNB Bank account.
At the same time, Chitate was looking for fuel from
different suppliers and Nyakujara advised him that she had 640 000 litres of
fuel that he needed.
Chitate then engaged Gwasira who assured him that he had
the funds ready and was able to settle the fuel bill. Chitate then directed
Gwasira to pay $13 250 000 to Nyakujara on his behalf.
Gwasira transferred the money to various accounts as
directed by Nyakujara who in turn confirmed receipt and assured Chitate that he
would receive his fuel in 24 hours.
Two million went into her company account Obstinate
Investments, $850 000 went to Rollben Enterprises as payment for cooking oil
and sugar, $5 million went to Coltfin Enterprises for various goods for sale
and $5,4 million went to Outshine Environ Consult for various grocery items.
Thereafter, Nyakujara was alleged to have become evasive
and failed to deliver the fuel. However, Mr Nduna ruled that it was not clear
whether the accused had refused to deliver the fuel or could not deliver it at
the time it was needed. The accused also told the complainant that she was not
going to deliver the fuel because the money had come from an account belonging
to a person who owed her money from previous transactions. Mr Nduna found
Nyakujara not guilty of the alleged offence and discharged her. Herald
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