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THE High Court has ordered the civil forfeiture of a 3,6ha property in Mandara and a luxury vehicle linked to a former NetOne Cellular (Pvt) Ltd cashier, ruling that the assets were probably acquired through proceeds of a ZWL$108 million airtime fraud.
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, Justice Benjamin Chikowero upheld an application by the Prosecutor-General to seize the assets from Daniel Kalira, who appeared in person and was connected to the property linked to the fraudulent proceeds, while the other four were involved in the ownership and registration of the questioned assets.
This legal action follows Kalira’s arrest in 2022 by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) for allegedly defrauding NetOne of ZWL$108 million in airtime vouchers between 2021 and 2022.
The confiscated assets include a Toyota Hilux double cab and an undivided 6,0283 percent share in Stand 913 Mandara Township.
During court proceedings, it was revealed that Kalira took “extreme” measures to conceal these acquisitions. He registered the Mandara property – bought for US$52 000 in December 2021 – under the name of his grandmother, Harriet Kalira.
In his defence, Kalira claimed the purchase was funded by a “gratuity” sent by his grandmother’s former employer in Australia. But Justice Chikowero dismissed this claim as fictitious, citing a total lack of financial documentation.
“Australia and Africa are continents apart. There is no paper trail showing the lawful movement of an amount of US$58 000 from Australia to Cape Town,” Justice Chikowero ruled.
The court found that despite the property being in his grandmother’s name, Kalira personally conducted the transaction, viewed the property, and made the cash payment.
Further undermining his defence, officials from ZIMRA testified that the border declaration forms for the vehicle submitted as evidence were fraudulent.
Investigators demonstrated that the ZIMRA date stamps on the documents had been decommissioned years prior and that the typography did not match official Government fonts.
The High Court also ordered the seizure of a Toyota Hilux registered to Kalira’s partner, Charlotte Chivavarirwa.
The court dismissed her claim that the vehicle was acquired through a “gold mining joint venture”, labelling the presented partnership agreement a “fictitious document” intended to create a false appearance of legitimacy.
According to the order, the Mandara property and the vehicle must be transferred to the State within seven days.
If the respondents do not comply, the Sheriff of the High Court is authorised to execute the transfers.
The State, however, acknowledged that it could not claim several other luxury vehicles mentioned in the original application, as evidence indicated they were purchased before the alleged criminal activities began.
In civil actions it is only necessary to prove the facts on the basis of probability, that what is ruled is more probable than not.
In criminal cases proof beyond reasonable doubt is required.
