By Judith Nyuke
State: Makonis Used Forged Papers to Seize Valley Lodge
HARARE — The trial of local businessman Clark Makoni and his wife Beverly continued on Friday at the Harare Magistrates’ Court, where State’s latest witness nailed the couple after testifying to having first met them when they sought to change signatories for Valley Lodge (Pvt) Ltd.
Clark Makoni and his wife Beverly are facing fraud charges after being accused of fraudulently changing former Reserve Bank Governer Dr Gidion Gono company into their own name.
The State alleges that while the CR6 form held by ZB Bank lists the Makonis as directors, the certified CR14 form identifies Gideon and Passion Gono as the directors.
The State’s latest witness, Mutare ZB Bank branch manager, Tonderai Karumbidza, testified that he first met the couple around 2017 when they came to change signatures.
He told the Court that the bank provided the two with a form detailing the signing process.
“In 2017, I met the couple (Beverly and Clark) when they visited our bank to change the signatures. As part of the process, I provided them with the 14A form, which outlines the requirements for signatories. They also completed the 14J6 form, which is required for signatories, and submitted their Know Your Customer (KYC) documents for processing. As the bank manager, I signed their application,” he said.
The couple, through their lawyer, argued that the burden of proof lies with the State to demonstrate that they authored the writings in question. They asserted that handwriting analysis by an expert is necessary to verify the signatures’ authenticity.
Magistrate Stanford Mambanje dismissed the defense’s objection, ruling it premature to debate who completed the forms after hearing submissions from both the prosecution and the defense.
“From my understanding, the State is not alleging that the accused authored the papers. The issue is that the bank manager, who signed the documents, has testified to his involvement in their compilation. I will accept the evidence on that basis,” Mambanje ruled.
Prosecutor Heather Mowokoto tendered the bank form and tye matter was rolled over to 28 February for trial continuation.
The complainant in this case is Valley Lodge (Pvt) Ltd, a registered company which was being represented by George Mashonganyika.
Makoni and his wife are owners of Ark Properties (Pvt) Ltd, an estate agent company appointed by the complainant as managers of Valley Lodge in Mutare.
It is the State’s case that in July 2017, the complainant engaged the services of the accused persons to manage Valley Lodge, among other properties.
On August 10, 2017, the couple allegedly forged a CR14 form in which Clark appointed himself director and company secretary and Beverly as his deputy.
Armed with the forged CR14 form, the two are said to have approached ZB Bank Mutare, Valley Lodge’s bank.
They misrepresented to the bank that they were the new shareholders and wanted to change signatories to bank accounts.
The State said the couple then fraudulently took over the complainant’s company and gained access to its bank accounts and stole money.
The actual prejudice is US$137 736 500, the State is alleging.
