HARARE – Tender businessman Wicknell Chivayo was acquitted on fraud charges on Friday – but his co-accused Genius Kadungure will be put to his defence after a court ruled he had a case to answer.
The two men were on trial over an alleged R1 million procurement swindle, with the Chegutu West MP Dexter Nduna one of the two complainants.
At the close of the prosecution case on Friday, Chivayo’s lawyer Advocate Lewis Uriri applied for a discharge arguing that there had been no evidence brought before the court linking his client to a crime.
Magistrate Morgen Nemadire agreed.
“There’s no nexus connecting Chivayo to the charges of fraud. The matter is a vexing one as it is a cybercrime. What’s perplexing is why Kadungure paid some money to one of the complainants. He should therefore be put to his defence as he has a case to answer,” the magistrate ruled.
Kadungure’s trial will proceed on November 15.
The trial so far head from Nduna and Evon Gatawa, the managing director of Even Mine and Milling Centre in Kadoma, who between them lost over R1 million.
The men, say prosecutors, were targeted in a complex scheme in which Kadungure and Chivayo pretended to be procurement officers for Marange Diamonds.
The pair, it was being alleged, placed orders with Nduna nd Gatawa for some mining pumps.
Chiyavo and Kadungure, according to prosecutors, would then advise the victims to order from recommended suppliers – who turned out to be fake companies created by the two.
After calling the fictitious companies and placing orders, Nduna and Gatawa found out they had been duped when they received deliveries that did not match their orders.
Kadungure, the trial heard, later repaid $20,000 to Gatawa after originally having agreed to pay $50,000 as a settlement. He told court that he wanted the charges to go away.
