HARARE – The start of the defense case for Harare estate agents Clark Clever Makoni and Beverly Aisha Ndonda Makoni was delayed on Monday after the couple, who are accused of defrauding a company owned by former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Gideon Gono of ZWL137 million, filed an urgent application with the High Court seeking to stay the proceedings.
During the court session, Malvern Mapako, appearing on behalf of defence lawyer Mr Admire Rubaya, disclosed the development. Consequently, the matter was postponed to Friday.
The Makonis are facing allegations of defrauding Galwex Investments, a company owned by Gono, of ZWL137 million.
This comes after their application for discharge at the close of the State’s case was dismissed, with presiding magistrate Stanford Mambanje ruling that they had a case to answer.
The alleged offence stems from a transaction on October 30, 2009, when Costic Investments (Pvt) Ltd sold all its shares in Lizack and Valley Lodge to Galwex Investments (Pvt) Ltd.
In 2017, Dr Gono reportedly engaged Ark Properties, a company owned by the accused pair, to manage Valley Lodge in Mutare.
On August 10, 2017, Clark Makoni is alleged to have filed a fraudulent CR14 form with the Registrar of Companies, listing himself and his wife, Beverly, as directors of Valley Lodge, effectively excluding the legitimate directors, Ayoob Omar and Mohamed Hussein Omar.
This alleged misrepresentation allowed the couple to gain access to Valley Lodge’s ZB Bank account, where they purportedly made themselves signatories and withdrew substantial amounts for personal use.
After taking control of the lodge, the Makonis allegedly declared the business unprofitable, prompting Galwex Investments to conduct an internal audit, which reportedly uncovered the irregularities.
This Clark Makoni is a shady guy. I have a friend who is in Canada who rented his flat at 8 Wegot Court close to Speciss College to a tenant Nyasha Gochayi. Nyasha went on to fraudulently sublease the flat to Clark Makoni and Clark gained occupancy without a lease. Clark proceeded to sublease or allow his "girlfriend" Tafadzwa Nataly Matuke to occupy the flat. Rent has not been paid for 3 months. Neither the HCC bills. The landlord only came to know about this after non payment of rentals. Processes are in place to evict the girlfriend and her friends. There have been complaints about "Avenues activities" happening at the flat from other property holders. A report has been made to the police to investigate and evict them. An eviction notice has also been sent to the girlfriend. A complaint is being made to the real estate council of Zimbabwe as well. How does a licensed real estate agent occupy a property without a lease? This is Zimbabwe for you. No respect whatsoever for private property. Too many conmen.