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Prosper Dembedza
Court Correspondent
FRAUD suspect George Katsimberis, accused of duping Pokugara Properties (Pvt) Limited of close to US$1 million in a joint venture to build cluster houses in Harare’s Borrowdale suburb, is now seeking referral of his case to the Constitutional Court citing a breach of his rights.
Through his lawyer Advocate Lewis Uriri, Katsimberis is alleging that his right to protection of the law is being infringed.
Katsimberis, originally from Greece, claims he is not good at English, but the court denied him access to a Greek interpreter.
Prosecutor Mr Michael Reza is yet to respond to the application for referral of the case to the Constitutional Court.
When the trial started, the State called its first witness Mr Michael Van Blerk to the witness stand.
While on the witnesses’ stand, Mr Van Blerk said Katsimberis used plans which were not approved by the City of Harare to construct a showroom.
He went on to state that Katsimberis showed them an approved plan which they later discovered was fake after they received a demolition letter from the City of Harare.
“We believed that the accused had City of Harare approved plans,” said Mr Van Blerk. “City of Harare wrote to us that there were no approved plans, but the accused had shown us plans which he claimed were approved by them.”
Van Blerk told the court that they had a joint venture with Katsimberis to develop land, and it was not an agreement of sale.
“Development was to be conducted on 19559, a portion of Pokugara Properties of which I also signed that agreement,” he said.
Mr Van Blerk said Katsimberis’ responsibility was to obtain all planning authorisations on behalf of the property owners, and to get approved plans, abiding to all the by-laws.
He said the showroom building was demolished after the City of Harare established that it was built without an approved plan, and was constructed with unauthorised material.
Mr Van Blerk told the court that Katsimberis hid the showroom from them as he was using unapproved material to build it.
“The accused for a period encircled the structure to prevent us from viewing it, but eventually we saw it,” he said.
“He used steel frame and concrete tar which was not part of our agreement. The house was demolished without malice by the city council, and all materials were recovered by the accused person.”
Katsimberis, through his lawyer, Advocate Tawanda Kanengoni, denied the allegations and told the court that he will file his defence outline in due course.
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