Online Reporter
Prosper Dembedza-Herald Correspondent
HARARE woman Elizabeth Parirenyatwa’s case against two Harare businessmen, who she accused of fraud, has crumbled after the court found the pair not guilty and acquitted them.
Parirenyatwa, who claims to be the executor of the estate of the late Mr Brian James Rhodes, who died in 2006, has been in a legal battle with the two businessmen, Messrs Brian Murphy and Adam Wood, for years.
In 2022, Parirenyatwa was evicted from a property along Mutare Road belonging to Karoi Properties (Pvt) Ltd before later laying a charge of fraud against the two businessmen.
She claimed that Messrs Murphy and Wood falsified a CR14 form that lists company directors and changed the death date of Mr Rhodes from 2006 to 2012 to mislead officials at the Companies Registry.
The first to be acquitted was Mr Wood, who was discharged at the close of the State case.
In acquitting Mr Wood, the magistrate Mrs Lisa Mutendereki said there was nothing linking him with the commission of offences levelled against him.
However, the magistrate put Mr Murphy to his defence to explain who supplied information to the Registrar of Companies’ Office.
After a six-week trial that had five witnesses testifying, Ms Mutendereki acquitted Mr Murphy after closure of the defence case.
Mrs Mutendereki ruled that there was no evidence that Mr Murphy was responsible for filing the CR14.
She said the State failed to prove the essential elements of fraud in the case.
“The CR14 was not filed by the accused person and the State conducted a rushed investigation,” ruled the magistrate.
She further stated that it was also not fully established how Mr Murphy was linked to the CR14.
During the trial, the pair’s lawyers Mr Kudzayi Kadzere of Kadzere, Hungwe & Mandevere and Mr Marlvin Mapako of Rubaya & Chatambudza accused Parirenyatwa of being a fraudster and criminal of unsound mind.
Mr Kadzere said Parirenyatwa forged a power of attorney, and she deliberately failed to bring it as evidence to conceal her deeds.
“The documents which you say give you the power of attorney were forged, and the accused persons are saying you are a fraudster and a criminal,” Mr Kadzere pointed out during cross-examination.
It was also revealed by Mr Kadzere that none of the late Mr Rhodes’ children were at the edict meeting, where Parirenyatwa was appointed as executor dative.
Parirenyatwa admitted that she was not in Harare when the CR14 was filed with the Registrar of Companies.
Mr Kadzere put it to Parirenyatwa that she had no evidence to prove that the accused persons made any misrepresentation to the Registrar of Companies.
Parirenyatwa failed to deny that when the late Mr Rhodes’ widow Mrs Elizabeth Rhodes was asked to list her husband’s assets, she never mentioned any shareholding in Karoi Properties (Pvt) Ltd, a company which owns vast pieces of land.
Mr Kadzere produced an inventory prepared by Mrs Rhodes, which shows that she did not list Karoi Properties as her late husband’s property
“You imposed yourself on the Rhodes family. That’s why his children want you removed from anything to do with their father’s estate,” said the lawyer.
Mr Kadzere added that Parirenyatwa was appointed executor dative in an edict meeting, which was not attended by Mr Rhodes’ children.
Investigations established that all the beneficiaries had been paid and Parirenyatwa had refused to take note of all previous High Court judgements in favour of the Phoenix Trust being the owner of the shares and that the estate owned nothing.
This puts to rest one of the most intriguing criminal trials of 2025.
