News / National
Forex dealer acquitted
01 Nov 2017 at 18:57hrs | Views
A HARARE woman who was facing charges of dealing in foreign currency illegally was yesterday acquitted by a Harare magistrate.
Catherine Tekwa, 30, of House No. 83 Stages Road, Craneborne was found not guilty of contravening the Exchange Control Act. She was in possession of R7 600, US$494 and $560 in bond notes.
Through her lawyer Dumisani Mthombeni, Tekwa told Harare magistrate Nomsa Sabarauta that she sells watches and phones to earn a living.
"She is not a foreign currency dealer as alleged. When she was arrested, she was not dealing in foreign currency as is criminalised by law but she was just counting her money since she wanted to send someone to South Africa to bring her some new phones and watches for resale.
"Zimbabwe is a multi-currency economy and it is not an offence at law to be in lawful possession of foreign currency neither is it an offence to count your money in public," said the lawyer.
Tekwa said the money she was arrested in possession of were her proceeds from selling watches and phones.
According to the magistrate, the State led by prosecutor Francesca Mukumbiri failed to prove a prima-facie case against the accused, confirming Tekwa's submissions that the State's case was weak leading to her acquittal.
Catherine Tekwa, 30, of House No. 83 Stages Road, Craneborne was found not guilty of contravening the Exchange Control Act. She was in possession of R7 600, US$494 and $560 in bond notes.
Through her lawyer Dumisani Mthombeni, Tekwa told Harare magistrate Nomsa Sabarauta that she sells watches and phones to earn a living.
"She is not a foreign currency dealer as alleged. When she was arrested, she was not dealing in foreign currency as is criminalised by law but she was just counting her money since she wanted to send someone to South Africa to bring her some new phones and watches for resale.
"Zimbabwe is a multi-currency economy and it is not an offence at law to be in lawful possession of foreign currency neither is it an offence to count your money in public," said the lawyer.
Tekwa said the money she was arrested in possession of were her proceeds from selling watches and phones.
According to the magistrate, the State led by prosecutor Francesca Mukumbiri failed to prove a prima-facie case against the accused, confirming Tekwa's submissions that the State's case was weak leading to her acquittal.
Source - hmetro
