2 lawyers up for fraudulent transfer of US$500 000...

2 lawyers up for fraudulent transfer of US$500 000 property to Buyanga’s Hamilton Property

Staff Reporter

Hamilton Property Ltd director Frank Buyanga, who is in custody in SA, has been implicated in a fraud case involving US$500,000 in Zimbabwe. Two lawyers are at the centre of the case.

Martin Murimirambewa,53 of Mapaya and Partners and Shakespear Karuwa, 55 of Karuwa and Associates appeared in court facing allegations of fraudulently processing ownership transfer of properties valued at US$500 000 to Frank Buyanga’s Hamilton Properties.

State prosecutor Lancelot Mutsokoti alleged that sometime in June 2009, Chamunorwa Matsika in his capacity as a co-director and owner of Monoliser Investments (Pvt) Ltd borrowed US$30 000 from Frank Buyanga, the director for Hamilton Property Ltd..

The parties agreed on collateral for the loan in the form of a signed agreement of sale for properties Lot 1 and Lot 2 of Mvagazi in Hurungwe worth over US$500 000-00.

In November 2009, Matsika made efforts to pay back the debt but found Hamilton Property offices closed.

Buyanga and his staff members were no longer reachable on the contacts that Matsika had. The state alleges that Matsika learnt from a newspaper article that Buyanga was on the run from charges of defrauding 42 people who had borrowed from Hamilton Property.

A check at the Deeds Office by Matsika revealed that the title deeds had been changed in favour of Hamilton Property Limited.

Matsika initiated civil proceedings against Hamilton Property Limited but got no joy until he was served with summons for eviction in 2023.

Matsika then reported the case to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission.

Investigations established that the two lawyers connived with Buyanga to initiate the process for a Capital Gains Tax Certificate in favour of Hamilton Property Holdings Ltd. This was a crucial supporting document to effect ownership transfer.

At a ZIMRA interview for issuance of the Capital Gains Tax a forged company resolution for the appointment of Silas Mutimba as representative of Monoliser Investments was presented.

But as neither Mutimba nor Buyanga were present, the certificate was not issued. Contacts attributed to the two in recorded information for the interview in fact belonged to the accused persons.

The accused persons then allegedly connived with Absolom Magwere, a Deeds Offic principal examiner, and corruptly registered the deed of transfer 4661/2009 for the property without the Capital Gains Tax Certificate and the declaration by both purchaser and seller.

The misrepresentation led to the complainant suffering a prejudice of US$ 500 000 as value of the lost property.

The two lawyers were granted US$100 bail each and remanded to September 3.

Buyanga has had previous legal wrangles with other property wo borrowed from his Hamilton Property and susbsequently lost their assets used as surety.

The businessman has been in custody at Remand Prison in South Africa since his arrest in November 2022 on charges of kidnapping his son in Harare in 2020 and contempt of court.

The allegations stem from an incident in April 2020, where Buyanga allegedly abducted his son in Zimbabwe and fled with him to South Africa.