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Zvikomborero Parafini
A PROMINENT city car dealer will know his fate today when magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa decides whether or not he is a suitable candidate for bail.
Lovemore Kudzanai Mafusire has been in custody since last Friday and filed his bail application yesterday.
He argued that he’s a suitable candidate for bail and his residence is known to ZACC officials who arrested him.
He told the court that Elisha Chimusoro, an investigating officer ZACC, acted maliciously by arresting him after he sued him at the Civil Court demanding the release of his vehicles.
Mafusire is a dealer at Dynamic Car Sales in central Harare.
On December 5 last year, officers from ZACC received a tip-off that a Toyota Fortuner, registration number AGE5418, and Ford Ranger Raptor, registration number AGE8451, were smuggled into the country.
They were told that the cars had been fraudulently registered through documents which were then submitted to ZIMRA and the Central Vehicle Registry.
A team of ZACC officers initiated investigations to determine the status of these vehicles.
Initial investigations established that the Toyota Fortuner was registered in the name of Memory Shamu while the Ford Ranger was registered in the name of Tsitsi Chirimumimba.
However, several registration anomalies were also found leading to a reasonable suspicion that these vehicles were fraudulently imported.
On April 14 this year, the Toyota Fortuner was recovered at a tollgate and subsequent investigations led to the recovery of the Ford Ranger Raptor at La Parada Car sale.
Investigations conducted revealed that Memory Shamu, cited as the owner of the Toyota Fortuner on the registration book, was “non-existent” and the mobile number, which was indicated as belonging to her on the Central Vehicle Registration Application form, belonged to Mafusire.
Mafusire allegedly told the ZACC officials that both vehicles belonged to his uncle, Spencer Makina, who stays in South Africa and works on cruise ships.
On May 24, Mafusire called the officials and told them that the cars belonged to him and that he had purchased them from Shamu and Chirimumimba.
He went on to sue the ZACC officials, demanding the release of the vehicles to him, as the rightful owner.
The application has two agreements of sale between him and the two people he claims sold the cars to him.
Further investigations established that passport number GN369748, which he claims belonged to Tsitsi Chirimumimba, was fake.
Mafusire is also facing forgery charges.
Lancelot Mutsokoti appeared for the State and opposed bail.
Online Reporter