Harare magistrate Stanford Mambanje presided over the bail
application Wednesday afternoon and remanded the matter to May 10.
The investigating officer Rinaye Mateke had opposed bail
arguing that Rushwaya’s alleged accomplices are still at large, adding that she
might interfere with investigations since she is often in contact with them.
But Rushwaya’s lawyer Oliver Marwa insisted she was a
suitable candidate for bail. He told the court that his client was facing a
civil matter and, that there was no justification to keep her behind bars.
Marwa added that there was no written agreement between her and the
complainant, hence the State’s case was weak.
Appearing for the State, Lancelot Mutsokoti told the court
that Rushwaya managed to get Ashok Jain to pay US$1 million for her defunct
gold claim at Umupfurudzi Mine in Mashonaland Central province.
According to court documents, Rushwaya met Jain in 2021
after she gathered that he was interested in investing in Zimbabwe. She
allegedly promised to help him start a liquor distribution company, establish a
distillery, and set up an ethanol plant as long as he was willing to fund the
businesses.
In April 2021, Rushwaya allegedly initially demanded US$35
000 and kept demanding more.
It is alleged that
Rushwaya got Jain to pay US$350 000 for a mining claim in Mashonaland Central,
although the special grant had expired in May 2021.
On December 26,
2021, Rushwaya demanded an initial payment of US$175 000 for the
purchase of the alleged gold mine.
The court heard that the money was paid to the accused's
representative Richard between January 2022 and May 2022.
Rushwaya allegedly misrepresented to the complainant that
she was preparing for mining activities to resume and she was paid various
amounts of money adding up to US$615 000 by the complainant.
On May 12, 2022, she allegedly demanded another
US$175 000 for the purchase of the alleged Umpfurudzi Gold Mine, and the money
was deposited into a United Arab Emirates bank account.
Of that, US$3 000
was later transferred into Rushwaya's
Zimbabwe account and the remainder US$172 000 was deposited into Relm
Mining Syndicate (Pvt) Ltd's account, the State alleges.
After receiving the money, Rushwaya allegedly forged a
geologist's report that concluded that there was no gold in the mines and tried
to get Jain to buy another mine in Shangani. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment