Murewa, who was
being represented by Tafadzwa Hungwe, was acquitted by Harare regional
magistrate Donald Ndirowei at the close of the State case.
Murewa was
accused of defrauding the national insurer of US$25 000 which was meant to buy
a guest house in Kariba.
Ndirowei ruled
that the State failed to prove a case against Murewa, adding that witnesses'
testimonies were conflicting.
"It is the
court’s view that the evidence of the prosecution is such that it does not
implicate the accused person in the commission of the offence,” Ndirowei said.
"There are
undisputed facts that the accused person was authorised to agree on the
purchase of the property by a board resolution, which allowed him to pay US$240
000.
"It is
also a fact that the accused signed the agreement of sale with the Thokozani
Family Trust which sold the property.
“In light of
the evidence, the court’s disposition is that the accused person should be
found not guilty and discharged at the close of the State's case.”
The State
alleged that Murewa lied that the guest house bought by Nssa in Kariba cost
US$240 000 instead of US$215 000.
Prosecutor
Anesu Chirenje alleged that in January 2021, Nssa resolved to purchase a guest
house in Kariba for use by its staff.
It was alleged
that Nssa gave Murewa the responsibility to seek a suitable property and he
approached Palm Golding, a real estate company.
The real estate
company had been given a mandate to sell stand number 989 Kariba Township on
behalf of Thokozani Family Trust and offered to purchase the property for
US$220 000.
The court heard
that Palm Golding arranged to meet Thokozani Family Trust’s representative,
Tendai Muzorewa.
It was alleged
that Murewa then negotiated for a reduction in price to US$215 000 and induced
Muzorewa to agree to sign an agreement of sale reflecting a buying price of
US$240 000.
The State
further alleged that on January 12, Nssa transferred US$300 000 to Platinum
Investments Managers (Private) Limited, with US$252 631,59 meant for the
purchase of the property.
It was alleged
that on March 14, 2022, the investment managers handed US$153 000 to Murewa to
purchase the property.
Murewa
allegedly only paid US$124 000 and was left with US$29 000. On January 31,
2022, the balance of US$91 000 was directly paid to the property owners to make
a total of US$215 000. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment