Online Reporter
Prosper Dembedza
TWO Harare men, who are being accused of misappropriating over US$52,000 in rental income belonging to the estate of the late medical practitioner Dr Edward Munatsireyi Pswarayi, have FLED from the arms of justice.
The duo includes the late doctor’s son, Tinashe Pswarayi.
Tinashe and Tauya Masunda were issued with warrants of arrest after they allegedly absconded before judgment could be delivered in their criminal trial.
The pair is facing allegations of unlawfully collecting and retaining rental income generated by properties belonging to Dr Pswarayi’s estate, following his death in June 2014.
Dr Pswarayi died at his farm in Beatrice and left behind a wife and 19 children, 37 grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Tinashe Pswarayi is unemployed and was serving as a trustee of the estate, while Masunda is the director of City Accounting and Secretarial Services and also served as a trustee of Tondori 1 and Tondori 2 trusts.
During the trial, lawyer Caleb Mucheche, who was appointed executor of the estate, testified that the accused allegedly diverted rental proceeds, amounting to more than US$52,000, before the estate came under formal administration.
Mucheche told the court that Pswarayi and Masunda allegedly established two bogus shell trusts as part of a scheme to unlawfully control and appropriate rental income from the estate’s properties.
This was in contravention of Section 42 of the Administration of Estates Act.
The case was reported by UK-based Takunda Pswarayi, one of the beneficiaries of the estate.
According to evidence led by prosecutor Polite Chikiwa, Dr Pswarayi registered his properties under two trusts in 2009.
Tondori 1 Trust comprised Munatsireyi Service Station and a commercial property in Highfield, Harare.
Tondori 2 Trust included two residential stands in Borrowdale Brooke, a supermarket and residential stand in Kambuzuma, as well as a 51 percent shareholding in Tondori Farm (Pvt) Ltd, in Beatrice.
Following Dr Pswarayi’s death on June 8, 2014, the properties remained under the administration of the two trusts, with Pswarayi and Masunda serving as trustees.
The State alleges that the two men began collecting rental income from the properties shortly after the death of Dr Pswarayi.
In June 2014 alone, they allegedly received US$9,835 in rental income but failed to surrender the funds to the executor, or report the transactions to the Master of the High Court, as required by law.
Prosecutors allege that the conduct continued between August and November 2014, during which the pair allegedly collected a further US$42,400 in rental income.
Despite their fiduciary responsibilities as trustees, they allegedly failed to distribute the funds to beneficiaries or account for them to either the executor or the Master of the High Court.
As one of the beneficiaries of the estate, Takunda Pswarayi was entitled to 10 percent of the rental proceeds but allegedly received nothing during the period in question.
The alleged misconduct was only discovered in December 2014 after the Master of the High Court appointed Mucheche as executor dative of the estate.
According to the State, the accused failed to comply with legal requirements governing the administration of deceased estates, which obligate anyone in possession of estate assets to surrender them to the executor or report their existence to the Master of the High Court.
The total amount allegedly misappropriated is US$52,235 and no recoveries have been made.
