News / Local
Famona couple up for forgery
28 Dec 2013 at 20:34hrs | Views
A Famona woman and her husband, who is on the run, have been caught in the eye of a storm after they allegedly forged a Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) official's signature and the organisation's letterhead in a bid to lure foreign diamond dealers.
The accused, Sihle MacDonald (42) appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mr Victor Mpofu, facing charges of contravening section 137 (1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23, forgery.
It is the State's case that on 17 October this year at a place unknown to the prosecutor but in Zimbabwe, MacDonald and her accomplice, Robert Bruce MacDonald, who also happens to be her husband and is still at large, allegedly connived and scanned a MMCZ letterhead and a signature of Ottilia Furutsa, acting deputy general manager and created a confirmation letter to the effect that their company, Matabeleland Investments, was authorised to sell MMCZ diamonds.
The court heard that they intended to lure diamond buyers from outside the country to buy diamonds through their company.
The accused sent the forged document to a prospective buyer using their company email saexplor003@gmail.com.
However, the accused's plan went up in smoke after one of the prospective buyers forwarded the scanned document to MMCZ for confirmation of authenticity where it turned out that MacDonald was not an authorised buyer or seller of MMCZ as purported.
A report was made to the police leading to the arrest of the accused person on 27 December but her husband was nowhere to be found. MacDonald was remanded to 16 January next year.
The accused, Sihle MacDonald (42) appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mr Victor Mpofu, facing charges of contravening section 137 (1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23, forgery.
It is the State's case that on 17 October this year at a place unknown to the prosecutor but in Zimbabwe, MacDonald and her accomplice, Robert Bruce MacDonald, who also happens to be her husband and is still at large, allegedly connived and scanned a MMCZ letterhead and a signature of Ottilia Furutsa, acting deputy general manager and created a confirmation letter to the effect that their company, Matabeleland Investments, was authorised to sell MMCZ diamonds.
The court heard that they intended to lure diamond buyers from outside the country to buy diamonds through their company.
The accused sent the forged document to a prospective buyer using their company email saexplor003@gmail.com.
However, the accused's plan went up in smoke after one of the prospective buyers forwarded the scanned document to MMCZ for confirmation of authenticity where it turned out that MacDonald was not an authorised buyer or seller of MMCZ as purported.
A report was made to the police leading to the arrest of the accused person on 27 December but her husband was nowhere to be found. MacDonald was remanded to 16 January next year.
Source - Sunday News
