adminNgoni Dapira
THE credit co-operative society Capital Base saga drags on one year later, and still no reimbursement is in sight for the over 2 200 clients who invested in the scheme.
The third meeting on Capital Base under judicial manager, Mr Crispen Mwete of C. Mwete and Company, was held last Friday in Mutare with hundreds of people attending to check the approval of their claim applications by the Deputy Master of the High Court from Bulawayo. Over 2 200 people were fleeced of their money by Capital Base last year when the company filed for bankruptcy, owing over $4 million to investors. Mr Mwete said so far they were still processing applications at the Deputy Master of the High Court in Bulawayo and verifying with applicants. He said even their next meeting in Mutare, which will be set by the High Court, will be for verification of claims until they get all the clients’ applications approved. However, Mr Mwete revealed that a business plan had been made and they would put it into operation as soon as they got working capital.
“As you could see there were many people who turned out and many claims to be processed, so we will push for claims to be approved first by the Master of High Court, so that we get everyone on record before focusing on the next big hurdle which will be reimbursement of people’s money.
“However, a business plan has already been made and we are in the process of rounding up all the properties under Applegroove Investment, which is the trading company that owned Capital Base,” said Mr Mwete.
He said so far in their record Applegroove Investment owns a timber milling factory in Penhalonga, a commercial property in the light industry area along Simon Mazorodze Road, a house in the low density suburb of Murambi and a stand in Murambi.
Mr Mwete said if there were other properties, his office was open to tip-offs.
“In terms of assets there are no assets under Capital Base but the trading company Applegrove Investment. It has been really difficult to track down their properties as we have often hit a brick wall after tip-offs.
“We would only later find out that the company was a shareholder in the concern, which meant that we could only force them to sell their shares and get the cash value.
“The police, the Central Intelligence Department got all their bank statements last year and up to now they have not been forthcoming to give us the statements, so it has not been easy as we are facing a lot of resistance on the case,” he said.
Online Reporter