Genius Kadungure
Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
Harare businessman Genius Kadungure is now a free man after the court yesterday granted his second application for refusal of further remand in the fraud case he is facing.
His case will proceed by way of summons.
Kadungure was being accused of swindling Zanu-PF MP for Chegutu West Dexter Nduna, who is the managing director of Badon Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd and a Kadoma-based miner only identified as Gatawa of R1 581 890.
Through his lawyer, Mr Tafadzwa Hungwe, Kadungure had made the application arguing that he had been on remand for a long time without going to trial.
In his ruling, magistrate Mr Tendai Mahwe ordered the State to proceed by way of summons and slammed the prosecution for failing to put its house in order.
“Accused has been on remand for a long period of time exceeding a year now and the State seems not to be ready. He has been coming to court religiously and had his passport released to him several times, but he never absconded. The State gives the same reasons that there are pending extra territorial investigations.
“In the circumstances, the court is convinced that the State is not ready hence it should proceed by way of summons when its house is in order,” he said.
Mr Hungwe argued that his client was placed on remand on May 24 last year and has been remanded for more than 14 times.
“The State cannot justify a further remand. He has never absconded court and has never violated his bail conditions. The State’s reasons for a further remand are baseless and inconsistent,” he said.
The prosecutor, Miss Sharon Mashavira, had sought for postponement of the matter to a later date arguing that there were some extra-territorial investigations that needed to be conducted in Botswana.
It is alleged that sometime in November 2012, Kadungure – in connivance with unknown accomplices – created a fictitious company named Transco Civil Engineering purportedly based in South Africa and opened an account for it with ABSA.
He allegedly created an e-mail account under the name procurement@marangediamonds.com, pretending to be a legitimate representative of Marange Resources.
Kadungure then misrepresented himself as the chief buyer for Marange Resources looking for mining pumps at competitive prices.
On December 4 that year, Gatawa sent his brother Enock to South Africa to buy the pumps from the fictitious company.
He paid R1 046 890 and was told by Transco Civil Engineering “officials” to go back to Zimbabwe and check for his parcel with DHL in three days’ time.
He was shocked to receive a parcel of cellphone chargers, at which point he realised that he had been duped, the court heard.
Mr Nduna was also duped by Kadungure in the same manner.