Online Reporter
Prosper Dembedza
Herald Correspondent
HARARE provincial magistrate Mr Tapiwa Kuhudzai has convicted Tauya Masunda and Tinashe Pswarayi, the son of the late freedom fighter and medical practitioner Edward Munatsireyi Pswarayi, on charges of appropriating over US$52 000 in rental income from the estate of the late freedom fighter.
Masunda and Pswarayi had pleaded not guilty but were, however, convicted after a full trial.
The matter has been stood down for pre-sentence.
The complainant in the case is Tinashe’s sibling, Ms Takunda Pswarayi, based in the United Kingdom and one of the beneficiaries of the estate.
The complainant, senior lawyer Caleb Mucheche, who is also the executor of the estate, testified during trial together with the deceased’s UK-based daughter, Ms Chenayimoyo Pswarayi, about the rampant theft of rentals amounting to US$52 000 by Tauya Masunda and Tinashe Pswarayi, between June 2014 and November 2014, before the appointment of the executor.
Mr Mucheche told the court that Masunda and Pswarayi unlawfully created two bogus shell trusts as part of a web of fraud and theft, which they used to steal the US$52 000 in violation of section 42 of the Administration of Estates Act (Chapter 6:01).
Tinashe, a trustee of the late Dr Pswarayi’s estate, is unemployed, while Masunda serves as the director of City Accounting and Secretarial Services and is also a trustee of the estate’s Tondori 1 and Tondori 2 trusts.
Prosecutor Polite Chikiwa informed the court that in 2009, Dr Pswarayi registered his properties under two trusts.
Tondori 1, which contains Munatsireyi Service Station and a commercial building in Machipisa, Harare, while Tondori 2 encompasses two residential stands in Borrowdale Brooke, a supermarket in Kambuzuma, another residential stand in Kambuzuma, and a 51 percent shareholding in Tondori Farm Private Limited located in Beatrice.
After Dr Pswarayi’s passing on June 8, 2014, all properties remained under the two trusts, with Tinashe and Masunda as trustees.
That same month, the accused allegedly began collecting rental income from properties registered under the estate.
The prosecutor claimed that in June alone, the pair received US$9 835 in rentals. However, they failed to remit the funds to the executor or report the transactions to the Master of the High Court, as required under Section 42 of the Administration of Estates Act, Chapter 6:01.
The alleged misappropriation continued, with the duo collecting a further US$42 400 in monthly rental income between August and November 2014.
Despite their fiduciary duties, they allegedly did not distribute the funds to beneficiaries or account for them to the executor or the Master of the High Court.
As a beneficiary of the Estate, Takunda was entitled to 10 percent of the rental income, but reportedly received no payment during this period.
It was only in December 2014, following the appointment of Advocate Caleb Mucheche as executor dative by the Master of the High Court, that Takunda uncovered the alleged misconduct.
Prosecutors contend that the accused failed to comply with the legal obligations governing the administration of estates, which require any individual in possession of a deceased person’s assets to surrender them to the executor or report to the Master of the High Court.
The total amount allegedly misappropriated stands at US$52 235, and nothing has been recovered.
