Businessman acquitted of theft

MUTARE businessman Ibraimo Richard Dauto, who was accused of stealing an $18 000 machine used to analyse the quality of diamonds from his Israeli counterpart, has been acquitted.

Dauto was acquitted at the close of State case on Tuesday.

Allegations were that Dauto who resides at Number 7, Woodpecker in Greenside stole the machine - Thermo Nicolet IS5 - from Avshalom Shalev, a diamond buyer registered with the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe.

"Sometime in the month of May 2015, the complainant came to Zimbabwe with the intention of attending a diamond tender at the MMCZ with his machine which is used to analyse the quality of diamonds. During the same month, the complainant left his machine with the accused person for safekeeping since he was travelling to and from Zimbabwe," said Mr Malvern Musarurwa, who was representing the State.

Sometime in January 2016, the complainant came to Zimbabwe from Israel intending to take the machine from the accused person.

"The accused person refused to return the machine to the complainant. The complainant made several attempts to get back his machine from the accused, but without success.

The accused person threatened the complainant with arrest and further unspecified threats if ever he comes to Mutare asking for his machine," said the prosecutor Musarurwa.

However, in his ruling on Tuesday, senior Mutare magistrate, Langton Mukwengi, said there was no prima facie evidence to substantiate allegations that Dauto had a case to answer.

"No reasonable court acting carefully can rely on such evidence," said Mukwengi.

Dauto was being represented by Chris Ndlovu of Gonese and Ndlovu Legal Practitioners. The value of the machine is $18 729.