Kurotwi case: Visit to SA deferred

Mr Kumarpal Natwar Shingadia has been acquitted of fraud and theft of trust property charges by the Harare Regional Court

After being acquitted last year of participating in the armed robbery of US$2,7 million of ZB Bank cash in 2021, Dennis Madondo (33) from Murehwa is now on trial for money laundering, using proceeds from criminal activities to purchase a luxury vehicle and being in possession of large sums of cash.

Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Court Reporter
The High Court on Monday indefinitely deferred a visit to South Africa as part of the prosecution of Core Mining and Mineral Resources director Lovemore Kurotwi and former Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation chief executive Dominic Mubaiwa on charges of defrauding Government of US$2 billion.Chief law officer Chris Mutangadura from the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe said the State was ready to visit South Africa for an inspection in loco that had been set down for January 15 and 16 but the court demanded to know the manner in which the inspection would be conducted from the South African Government.

The court was expected to leave Zimbabwe Tuesday, which was a travelling day, according to the earlier plan.

Mr Mutangadura told the court that the chief magistrate of South Africa would be leading the team to the target areas, but the court wanted to know if the idea does not equate the High Court to a magistrate’s court.

Justice Bhunu postponed the case to February 14 when Mr Mutangadura is expected to shed more light on the procedure according to the South African Government.

The National Prosecuting Authority got South Africa’s approval to conduct an inspection in loco end of last year.

Kurotwi and Mubaiwa had been fighting to block the foreign trip.

The two are being accused of misrepresenting to the Government that Core Mining was a special purpose vehicle for a renowned mining giant BSGR, prompting the State to sign a joint venture agreement with an undeserving company.

Government later discovered that Core Mining had nothing to do with BSGR and that it did not have the required money to finance the operations of a joint venture firm, Canadile Miners.

As a result of the said misrepresentation, Government claims it suffered business loss to the tune of US$2 billion.

In the middle of the trial, Mr Mutangadura applied for an inspection-in-loco to be conducted at Pikwane Diamonds in South Africa, where the ZMDC committee members were received during a due diligence exercise in 2009.