Prominent Bulawayo businessman, Mr Delma Lupepe, has approached the courts seeking recourse over nearly US$2 million he allegedly lost to a local supplier, in a failed mining equipment supply deal.
A former
industrialist, who once owned the now-defunct Merlin Clothing Company and ran
Amazulu Football Club, Mr Lupepe has since ventured into mining.
He engaged Mr
Shlomo Yosef Lepar to supply mining equipment valued at approximately US$2
million, financed through a bank loan.
The matter is
now set to be heard in court after Mr Lupepe, through his legal representatives
Mashayamombe Attorneys, filed papers demanding compensation.
According to
court documents, on February 5, 2018, Mr Lepar provided Mr Lupepe with a
comprehensive collection schedule for the mining equipment and advised him to
collect it from his warehouse. However, it is alleged that Mr Lepar
subsequently blocked the collection by demanding exorbitant storage fees.
Later, on
December 4, 2018, Mr Lepar initiated “interpleader proceedings” against Mr
Lupepe, claiming that Yatakala Pvt Ltd, trading as Viking Hardware, was in
possession of the mining equipment but had no vested interest in it.
Through his
lawyers, Mr Lepar sought a court determination on whether Mr Lupepe or Fidelity
Printers was the rightful owner of the equipment.
However, the
case was not concluded, as Mr Lepar allegedly devised a plan to permanently
deprive Mr Lupepe of the equipment. He withdrew both the interpleader and
action proceedings, according to the court papers.
On October 31,
2019, Mr Lepar cancelled the contract of sale, notifying Mr Lupepe’s lawyers by
letter, and remitted ZWL$1 808 829 to the complainants’ account at the
prevailing 1:1 interbank rate.
“Scheming
further to deprive the complainant permanently of his mining equipment, the
accused on November 5, 2020 unilaterally transferred ZWL$1 808 829 into the complainant’s lawyers,
Mashayamombe Attorneys, under CBZ Trust account without the consent of Mr
Lupepe or his legal representatives,” the court papers state.
A copy of the
banking transaction is expected to be presented in court as evidence.
“The accused
went on to dispose of the complainant’s mining equipment and consumables valued
at US$1 808 829 without obtaining a
court order,” the documents further allege.
Among the
equipment in question are a FAW diesel truck engine (value not specified), a
FEIHE diesel compressor valued at approximately US$20 500 and a 4×4 tractor,
worth around US$79 005.
The court
papers also state that the accused “neglected or disregarded the existence of
the pending High Court case HC1958/20, with intent to deprive the complainant
permanently of the property.”
Through his
legal team, Mr Lupepe is now seeking repayment of the funds in United States
dollars.
Subsequently,
on March 23, 2022, Mr Lupepe reimbursed the sum of ZWL$1 808 829 to the
accused’s CBZ account number 21276325606 from Coghlan and Welsh Trust Barclays
Account number 23880930017, held by his lawyers, Mashayamombe Attorneys.
Chronicle
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