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Nyore Madzianike
Senior Court Reporter
FORMER Africom Holdings (Private) Limited chief executive officer Kwanayi Kashangura and lawyer Muyengwa Enjurance Motsi were in court yesterday on allegations of stealing US$46 000 of Africom money held in trust funds in 2014.
Kashangura and Motsi denied the charges of theft of trust property when they appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mr Tinei Manwere, but blamed each other for the payment to a company owned by Kashangura.
Motsi said he simply obeyed Kashangura’s instructions while Kashangura argued that only Motsi could release money from his trust account. In his defence prepared by lawyer Professor Lovemore Madhuku, Kashangura told the court that he never received trust funds from Africom Holdings and never assumed joint responsibility on Motsi’s trust account, which was in the sole care of Motsi as a legal practitioner.
He argued that Motsi was, by law, solely responsible for his trust account.
The sum of US$171 000 referred to in the State outline was lawfully given to Motsi as trust property, he said, and Kashangura only authorised Motsi to make disbursements in accordance with the purposes for which the money was held in trust. Motsi in his defence told the court that Kashangura and another top manager at Africom Holdings Mrs Rudo Mudavanhu approached him in February 2014 looking for a transitory account to deposit conveyancing fees for Longcheng by Messrs Gambe and Partners.
Kashangura and Mudavanhu were still negotiating for a reduction of conveyancing fees by Mr Gambe so the two had US$171 000 transferred from an Africom account to the trust account of M. E. Motsi and Associates on the February 7 2014.
On February 12 Motsi said he received written instructions to transfer US$40 000 to Ngonidzashe Musowe and he complied.
He said this was the amount outstanding for obligations by Africom personally secured by Kashangura and Prinbond (Pvt) Limited who were being sued.
Two days later Motsi received written instructions to transfer US$ 100 000 to Gambe and Partners for services rendered to Fernhav Investments (Pvt) Limited, and again he complied, as he did on March 31 2014 when given further instructions to transfer US$25 000 to Gambe and Partners for the same purpose.
Motsi said he also received further written instructions from Kashangura in May to transfer US$3 000 to Oberg Investments (Pvt) Limited for consulting services and he complied.
The total of US$168 000 was duly transferred on written instructions and M. E. Motsi and Associates charged US$3 000 legal fees as discussed by Motsi with Rudo Mudavanhu. But the State led by Mr Oscar Madhume alleges that on February 7 2014, Africom Holdings transferred the US$171 000 from CBZ Bank to Motsi’s NMB Bank trust account solely for payment of transfer fees to Gambe and Partners who had transferred and registered Longchen Plaza on behalf of Africom Holdings.
Kashangura allegedly later managed to negotiate with Gambe and Partners for reduction of transfer fees to US$125 000 and this was then transferred by Motsi to Gambe and Partners and he was left with US$46 000 in his trust account, according to the State.
It is said that on February 13, 2014, Kashangura, through his company Prinbond Investment, instructed Motsi to transfer US$40 000 to Ngonidzashe Musowe’’s account to settle his loan obligations although Prinbond Investment is a company which has no links with Africom Holdings, according to the State.
But Motsi released the money.
Kashangura and Motsi are expected back in court on April 11 for trial continuation.
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