News / National
Robson Chapfika facing serious fraud charges
06 Feb 2011 at 06:12hrs | Views
ZIMBABWE Tobacco Auction Centre (Zitac) shareholder and former chairman Mr Robson Chapfika is facing serious fraud charges involving more than US$80 000, it has been confirmed.
Zitac had secured a facility from MBCA Bank and had made arrangements to travel to China and procure chemicals ranging from fungicides, herbicides, seedbed chemicals and insecticides for tobacco farmers.
Impeccable sources revealed that on February 26 2010 Mr Chapfika allegedly withdrew US$80 000 from MBCA Bank Jason Moyo Avenue Branch in Harare which had been secured from the bank as a loan for tobacco farmers' agricultural inputs scheme.
It is understood that one of the directors (name supplied) offered his upmarket luxury house in Harare's Mandara suburb as collateral for the US$80 000 loan and ceded the title deeds to the bank.
On February 24 2010, the other director who was on his way to South Africa for a business meeting signed a blank cheque and left it with Mr Chapfika.
Mr Chapfika was the second signatory to the cheque and was entitled, as per the agreement with the other director, to withdraw only US$1 000 for the company's petty cash.
Instead, Mr Chapfika allegedly went on to help himself to the US$80 000 that had been loaned to Zitac by MBCA Bank. The suspected fraud was only discovered three months later.
Details with police Serious Fraud Squad (Docket Number IR 020173) at Ahmed House in Harare reveal that Mr Chapfika then bought himself a white Toyota LandCruiser VX (Registration number ABL 1900) allegedly using part of the loot from the loan.
It is understood that MBCA Bank is now threatening to sell the other director's Mandara property to recover the US$80 000. The loan was meant to have been paid back to MBCA Bank by August last year at an interest rate of 20 percent per annum.
It is understood that in July last year, as the August repayment deadline drew closer, Mr Chapfika was served with acknowledgment of debt papers, which he blatantly refused to sign, saying "hapana zvamunodiita" (there is nothing you will do to me).
The other Zitac director who was also fired by the same Mr Chapfika and Wilson Nyabonda is now seeking legal recourse to stop his house from being sold by the bank and find alternative means to recover the money from Mr Chapfika.
Things have been falling apart for Zitac after it emerged last year that the company was in a financial mess. Zitac has repeatedly failed to pay its creditors, some of which include some financial institutions and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which it owes US$300 000. Zitac also owes tobacco merchant Mashonaland Tobacco Company over US$350 000 after it failed to deliver tobacco since the auction floors closed in September last year.
Zitac's financial problems date back to 2004 when it started failing to produce audited financial results.
In what could clearly pass for an act of economic sabotage, someone (name supplied) is alleged to have called Netherlands Hanchen Tobacco, which had made moves to purchase 500 tonnes of the gold leaf this tobacco selling season from Boka Investments, telling them not to buy tobacco from Boka Investments.
Recently, the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board awarded the licence to sell tobacco this season to Boka Investments, in which it has been fighting legal battles over non-payment of rentals.
Zitac is to date refusing to vacate the Boka Auction Floors, a move that market watchers believe is a clear plot to sabotage this year's tobacco selling season.
Zitac had secured a facility from MBCA Bank and had made arrangements to travel to China and procure chemicals ranging from fungicides, herbicides, seedbed chemicals and insecticides for tobacco farmers.
Impeccable sources revealed that on February 26 2010 Mr Chapfika allegedly withdrew US$80 000 from MBCA Bank Jason Moyo Avenue Branch in Harare which had been secured from the bank as a loan for tobacco farmers' agricultural inputs scheme.
It is understood that one of the directors (name supplied) offered his upmarket luxury house in Harare's Mandara suburb as collateral for the US$80 000 loan and ceded the title deeds to the bank.
On February 24 2010, the other director who was on his way to South Africa for a business meeting signed a blank cheque and left it with Mr Chapfika.
Mr Chapfika was the second signatory to the cheque and was entitled, as per the agreement with the other director, to withdraw only US$1 000 for the company's petty cash.
Instead, Mr Chapfika allegedly went on to help himself to the US$80 000 that had been loaned to Zitac by MBCA Bank. The suspected fraud was only discovered three months later.
Details with police Serious Fraud Squad (Docket Number IR 020173) at Ahmed House in Harare reveal that Mr Chapfika then bought himself a white Toyota LandCruiser VX (Registration number ABL 1900) allegedly using part of the loot from the loan.
It is understood that MBCA Bank is now threatening to sell the other director's Mandara property to recover the US$80 000. The loan was meant to have been paid back to MBCA Bank by August last year at an interest rate of 20 percent per annum.
It is understood that in July last year, as the August repayment deadline drew closer, Mr Chapfika was served with acknowledgment of debt papers, which he blatantly refused to sign, saying "hapana zvamunodiita" (there is nothing you will do to me).
The other Zitac director who was also fired by the same Mr Chapfika and Wilson Nyabonda is now seeking legal recourse to stop his house from being sold by the bank and find alternative means to recover the money from Mr Chapfika.
Things have been falling apart for Zitac after it emerged last year that the company was in a financial mess. Zitac has repeatedly failed to pay its creditors, some of which include some financial institutions and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which it owes US$300 000. Zitac also owes tobacco merchant Mashonaland Tobacco Company over US$350 000 after it failed to deliver tobacco since the auction floors closed in September last year.
Zitac's financial problems date back to 2004 when it started failing to produce audited financial results.
In what could clearly pass for an act of economic sabotage, someone (name supplied) is alleged to have called Netherlands Hanchen Tobacco, which had made moves to purchase 500 tonnes of the gold leaf this tobacco selling season from Boka Investments, telling them not to buy tobacco from Boka Investments.
Recently, the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board awarded the licence to sell tobacco this season to Boka Investments, in which it has been fighting legal battles over non-payment of rentals.
Zitac is to date refusing to vacate the Boka Auction Floors, a move that market watchers believe is a clear plot to sabotage this year's tobacco selling season.
Source - Byo24News
