Online Reporter
Zvikomborero Parafini
Court Reporter
FORMER Renaissance Financial Holdings group chief executive officer Patterson Fungai Timba has been denied bail after the presiding magistrate ruled that he is not a suitable candidate for release.
Harare regional magistrate Mrs Marewanazvo Gofa argued Timba failed to present a plausible defence to justify bail.
She concurred with the State’s assertion that he was a man of means who could flee the jurisdiction and maintain a livelihood outside the country’s borders.
The complainant in the case is Mr Jameson Rushwaya, a male adult who resides at Glencair Mine, Blagdon Extension Farm in Kadoma, and the director of Tolrose Mine.
Timba was a co-director of Tolrose Mine until 2018. Tolrose, located at Blagdon Farm in the Mashonaland West Province, is a gold mine that has been embroiled in an ownership dispute dating back to 2010.
Prosecutors allege that in February 2018, Timba was declared insolvent under case HC 114/17, yet he continued to act as a director of Tolrose Investments and his other company, Swimming Pool and Underwater Repairs (Private) Limited.
According to the Articles of Association of Tolrose Investments valid at the time, any director placed under sequestration automatically ceased to be a director.
Despite this, Timba allegedly continued to unlawfully pose as a director of Tolrose Investments, conducting transactions in that capacity.
He is accused of submitting multiple affidavits while insolvent, violating legal protocols.
Timba also fraudulently orchestrated and directed the sale of Mr Rushwaya’s shares to himself through his other company, using fabricated share certificates under the pretext of settling a judgment debt owed to Tetrad Bank.
These affidavits intentionally omitted his insolvency, thereby misleading the courts to his advantage. Following Timba’s insolvency declaration, the Master of the High Court appointed Mr Cecil Hondo Madondo as judicial manager of Timba’s estate.
Mr Rushwaya reportedly lost US$5 million, with nothing recovered.
