Businesss partner brothers in court fight

Auxilia Katongomara Court Reporter
A BulawayO man has taken his brother to court accusing him of defrauding him of cash amounting to $29,000.
Partson Sibanda, 63, of Entumbane reported his brother Christopher to the police after the latter failed to honour promises he made after using title deeds for his sibling’s house to secure a project, prejudicing him of $29,000 in the process.
The two work together and are both managing directors of United Armature Winding in Belmont.

Christopher appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Gladmore Mushowe facing fraud charges.
Prosecuting, Jeremiah Mutsindikwa told the court that sometime in October 2011, Christopher secured a tender from the Bulawayo City Council to repair motors at Ncema and Fernhill dams at a cost of $111,168.

“Christopher wanted a down payment of 30 percent to start the project and the Bulawayo City Council requested collateral to secure the deposit. He then approached his brother Partson and asked to use title deeds of his Entumbane house as collateral to secure deposit with the council,” Mutsindikwa told the court.

The court heard that Christopher stated that he would appoint Partson as managing director of the project and also give him 33,3 percent of the profit after completion of the project and he agreed.

“He then took the title deeds to the city council where he used them as collateral and was given $16,733 as down payment. Later during the repair work of the electric motors, he ran out of funds and went back to the council and negotiated the release of the title deeds,” Mutsindikwa said.

He then approached his brother and asked if he could use the title deeds as collateral for a loan with a local bank and he consented.
“The bank gave him the loan and after the completion of the project, Christopher was paid $94,435 but failed to honour his promise to give Partson 33,3 percent of the profit, which then forced him to report the matter to the police after his efforts had proved fruitless,” said Mutsindikwa.

Christopher will be back in court on July 8.