The trial of a Harare couple, accused of unlawfully altering the directorship of Valley Lodges linked to former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Gideon Gono, resumed on Friday with testimony from a ZB Bank manager.
Tonderai Karumbidza, a manager at ZB Bank’s Mutare branch, was cross-examined by the defence lawyer, Admire Rubaya. The defence raised concerns about the validity of the State’s evidence, claiming that the prosecution had failed to provide original or properly commissioned documents, with many of them commissioned by Karumbidza.
Additionally, the court was informed that no CCTV footage had been presented to verify that the accused, Clark Clever Makoni and his wife Beverly Aisha Makoni, were at the bank during the alleged incident. When pressed on this, Karumbidza admitted he could not confirm their physical presence at the bank on the specified dates.
Magistrate Stanford Mambanje stressed the importance of forensic verification of signatures before the court could accept the documents as reliable evidence.
Prosecutor Heather Muwokoto acknowledged the defence’s concerns but insisted that bank records indicated proper procedure was followed in the signatory change.
The case was adjourned until February 28.
The State claims that in July 2017, Gono hired the Makonis to manage Valley Lodge and other properties. On August 10, 2017, the couple allegedly forged a CR14 form, appointing Clark as director and company secretary, and Beverly as his deputy. They then reportedly presented the forged document to ZB Bank Mutare, misrepresenting themselves as the new shareholders and requesting a change of signatories for the bank accounts. The couple allegedly used the forged documents to take control of the company, access its bank accounts, and steal funds.
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