Director accused of US$500 000 fraud

than US$500 000.
Marvis Mushonga is jointly charged with former core director Paul Stefanos Stevenson, a South African.

The institution’s owner Dr Vivek Savji Solanki appointed Mushonga (43) and Stevenson (41) core directors of the institution in 2001, but they were not signatories to the bank accounts.
Stevenson later resigned in 2008 while Dr Solanki left the country in 2009.

A year after Solanki’s departure, it is alleged, Mushonga, Stevenson and other workers still at large connived and withdrew US$501 000 from the institution’s accounts which they shared.
Mushonga and Stevenson were not asked to plead to three counts of fraud when they appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Donald Ndirowei who granted them bail coupled with stringent conditions.

Stevenson, who is being represented by Mr Innocent Musimbe, was ordered to pay US$1 000 bail and to surrender assets with a value of US$180 000 as surety and to surrender his passport. Mushonga paid US$500 bail and also surrendered her passport. The two are also required to report once every week to the police.

Mushonga is being represented by Ms Beatrice Mtetwa of Mtetwa and Nyambirayi law firm.
The two suspects are expected back in court on December 1.

However, the suspects’ lawyers gave notice of their intention to challenge the arrest and placement on remand of their clients on the next remand date.
Prosecutor Ms Molyn Mutamangira-Mavhondo alleges that Dr Solanki fled the country in 2009 due to some misunderstandings with his business partners.

Between August and September last year, Mushonga and Stevenson together with other workers, wrote a fraudulent letter purporting that Dr Solanki’s manager and sole signatory, Zarina Dudia had resigned from the company and that there was a board resolution to that effect. Using the letter, they made an application to Stanbic Bank for a change of signatories, which was granted.

They then withdrew US$300 000 from the account. Using the same modus operandi, they withdrew another US$198 000 from the company’s ZB account. They further withdrew US$3 500 from Metropolitan bank.