He sold 6 of our houses without my knowledge: Zim UK nurse speaks out on nasty divorce
LONDON – A Zimbabwean nurse based in the UK has spoken out about how her husband allegedly sold six of their matrimonial homes without her knowledge during the course of their 9-year old marriage.
In an exclusive interview with Nehanda Radio, Lucia Vela who is in the midst of a protracted divorce from Costa Margolis that has been rumbling on for 7 years, wants other women to learn from her story and be on the guard against naively trusting their husbands too much when it comes to financial affairs.
Mrs Vela married Magolis in 1998 in terms of the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11 and the union was blessed with three children. She then relocated to the UK in 2001 with her children. Mr Margolis later followed his wife to the UK.
Vela claimed that because her husband travelled frequently to and from Zimbabwe, he handled most of their financial transactions including the purchase of properties. The couple split up in 2007 but the divorce proceedings have coughed up some legal drama that saw Margolis narrowly avoiding jail.
In May last year Ms Vela returned to Zimbabwe where she discovered to her shock and horror that she had been fraudulently divorced. Court records showed she had been divorced in 2009 when she neither filed any divorce papers nor consented to any divorce proceedings.
Investigations by Vela’s lawyers later revealed that Mr Margolis had in fact approached a lawyer, only identified as Ringisai Mapondera of Mapondera and Company, accompanied by a certain woman who posed as Ms Vela and they had fraudulently sought and were granted a divorce decree at the High Court.
On the 19th of December 2013, Harare Magistrate Don Ndirowei issued a warrant of arrest for Margolis for fraud and bigamy. Just as Nehanda Radio reported at the time, Margolis was arrested and faced trial. He was convicted of the charges and slapped with a hefty US$4500 fine or face a combined 12 months in jail.
The court proved that on the 18th of December 2007, Magolis entered into a marriage at the Harare Magistrates Court with Jane Tonderai Mwareka whilst he knew that his marriage with Lucia Vela still existed.
For bigamy he was slapped with a US$500 fine or 2 months in jail. A US$2000 fine or alternatively 6 months in prison was imposed for misrepresenting to the court that his wife wanted a divorce and a further US$2000 was added for forgery again with the alternative of another 6 months jail term.
Margolis was also slapped with a 5 year jail term suspended on condition he does not commit a similar offence.
Although the divorce between the two has been in finalized in the UK, the Zimbabwean side of things is dragging out because of the dispute over property.
Only three properties remain including a 22 roomed mansion in Belvedere (Harare) and the courts will have to decide on how to share them.
The courts will also have to adjudicate on the properties Mr. Margolis allegedly sold without the consent of his wife.
Vela argues she cannot share the remaining properties equally with someone who has already sold 6 other properties without her knowledge. She also states that she built the house in Belvedere for her three children to use.
Nehanda Radio sought out an interview with Mr. Margolis and he gave us a different version of events. He claimed that it was in fact his wife who had left him for a “rich white guy” in the UK.
“She treated me like a dog and walked out on me. The police chased me from my own house, as you know in such cases the law favours the women in the UK and I lost my home in the UK. The new guy she has owns several hotels, 21 houses in Blackpool and she has about 5 houses in her name now,” Margolis claimed.
He also disputed claims by his ex-wife that he sold 6 properties without her consent claiming the properties belonged to his brothers. He said some of the properties listed were merely undeveloped stands.
“The only house with her name is the one in Belvedere. Its valued at about $420 000. I suggested we put this house in the children’s names but she wants to have it sold so that she can buy another house with another man. I lost a house in the UK to her and she wants me to lose another house here in Zimbabwe.”
On the charges of bigamy and forgery that he was convicted on by a court in Zimbabwe, Margolis claimed that he merely paid the lawyer to process the divorce and was not aware that the lawyer would use fraudulent means to achieve this objective.
Margolis also claimed that his ex-wife had hoped they would get back together and when this did not happen and he in fact re-married in Zimbabwe, she became bitter and decided to use the media to destroy his name.
Friends and family members of the couple who spoke Nehanda Radio said they had advised them to resolve their differences in private and not in the glare of the media spotlight.
Vela meanwhile insists she wants other unsuspecting women to learn form her story and not make the same mistake of trusting their partners too much.
