Company director in court for failing to perform community service

Court Correspondent
The director of Eagle Italian Shoes (Pvt) Limited and Eagle Italian Leather (Pvt) Ltd who was arrested yesterday for failure to comply with a court order which compelled him to perform 105 hours of community service has appeared in court.
His lawyer accused the State of playing a part in his client’s arrest.The lawyer applied for bail and proposed US$100 bail. He said he needs time to file a response in the inquiry.
The lawyer said the information before the court is factually incomplete.

But the State, led by Mr Anesu Chirenje, said the accused person defied a court order.“It came to our attention through numerous complaints that the accused person is not abiding by the court order.

“The warrant of arrest was issued by a clerk of court at the instigation of the community service department, therefore the State is not involved in his arrest,” said Mr Chirenje.

“On the issue of bail, our position is very clear. The accused is a convict and has defied a court order.”He said the accused is facing the possibility of three months imprisonment and therefore the risk of abscondment is very high if he is granted bail.

The magistrate, Mr Simon Kandiero deferred the matter to tomorrow.Francesco Marconati and his son Alessandro were found guilty of threatening to kill Ms Li Song.During the trial, Ms Li Song told the court that Francesco illegally removed her from her position in the company and replaced her with his son Alessandro.

He also removed Agrilink as the company secretariat without conducting a shareholders’ or directors’ meeting.Marconati(65) also used fraudulent CR6 forms to remove Ms Li’s signature from the company’s bank accounts and replaced them with his son’s.
It was proven that on September 28, 2022, Ms Li was standing outside the Harare Magistrates Court after attending a court session in which Francesco and Alessandro were facing fraud and forgery allegations.

She was the complainant.While at her vehicle, she was approached by the pair and Francesco threaghtened to kill her if she did not withdraw the case.The State proved that Alessandro then dragged Francesco from where the complainant was standing and they went to their car, leaving the complainant at the car park.
All the events were witnessed by Bernadette Mukuku who was in the company of the complainant.