News / National
Rushwaya gets her passport back
09 Mar 2012 at 21:04hrs | Views
FORMER Zimbabwe Football Association chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya got back her passport permanently after she successfully applied to have her bail conditions relaxed.
Rushwaya, the alleged mastermind of the Asiagate scandal in which top Zifa officials were reportedly involved in match-fixing, last month had part of her bail terms temporarily suspended to allow her to attend business meetings in South Africa and Dubai.
She is facing 11 counts of concealing transactions from a principal, two counts of fraud and 15 others of bribery involving US$1 million.
When she first appeared in court, Rushwaya was granted US$500 bail coupled with stringent conditions.
She was ordered to report to the police once every fortnight, not to interfere with investigations and to surrender her passport to the Clerk of Court until the case is finalised.
Yesterday, the Attorney-General's Office consented to Rushwaya's request to have her passport back.
The AG's Office said Rushwaya had known of the investigations against her as far back as 2010, but she never tried to interfere or escape.
It was also indicated that Rushwaya had on several occasions been temporarily given back her passport and she never fled.
Her lawyer, Mr Jonathan Samukange of Samukange and Venturas, said the State will not suffer any prejudice by the scrapping of the bail condition.
The defence also sought to cancel the reporting conditions, but the magistrate Ms Anita Tshuma rejected the request on the grounds of the seriousness of the crime Rushwaya is facing.
Mr Samukange gave notice of the defence's intention to apply for refusal of further remand if the prosecution fails to complete its investigations by April 27, the next remand date.
Mr Tapiwa Kasema alleges that Rushwaya, as an agent of Zifa, connived with former programmes officer Jonathan Musavengana and Asian betting syndicate leader Raja Perumal and unlawfully authorised the national soccer team and Monomotapa FC to attend international sporting tours.
They allegedly arranged that the full nature of transactions would not be disclosed to the Zifa board and the Sports and Recreation Commission.
It is alleged Perumal funded the trips to Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Oman, Jordan, Bulgaria, China, Thailand and Yemen.
Rushwaya, between 2007 and 2009, allegedly engaged match officials, players, technical staff and media personnel in respect of all the 15 international games played and received US$1 million to throw away matches.
According to the State, witnesses will testify that they received clear instructions to concede goals at given intervals.
On the two counts of fraud, Rushwaya, in July 2009, allegedly arranged matches between the senior national football team, the Warriors and the Malaysian national team, which were not approved by Zifa.
All expenses for the trip were allegedly paid in Malaysia.
It is alleged Rushwaya, with the intention to defraud Zifa and the SRC, sent Monomotapa FC to Malaysia misrepresenting that it was the national team.
Rushwaya, the alleged mastermind of the Asiagate scandal in which top Zifa officials were reportedly involved in match-fixing, last month had part of her bail terms temporarily suspended to allow her to attend business meetings in South Africa and Dubai.
She is facing 11 counts of concealing transactions from a principal, two counts of fraud and 15 others of bribery involving US$1 million.
When she first appeared in court, Rushwaya was granted US$500 bail coupled with stringent conditions.
She was ordered to report to the police once every fortnight, not to interfere with investigations and to surrender her passport to the Clerk of Court until the case is finalised.
Yesterday, the Attorney-General's Office consented to Rushwaya's request to have her passport back.
The AG's Office said Rushwaya had known of the investigations against her as far back as 2010, but she never tried to interfere or escape.
It was also indicated that Rushwaya had on several occasions been temporarily given back her passport and she never fled.
Her lawyer, Mr Jonathan Samukange of Samukange and Venturas, said the State will not suffer any prejudice by the scrapping of the bail condition.
The defence also sought to cancel the reporting conditions, but the magistrate Ms Anita Tshuma rejected the request on the grounds of the seriousness of the crime Rushwaya is facing.
Mr Samukange gave notice of the defence's intention to apply for refusal of further remand if the prosecution fails to complete its investigations by April 27, the next remand date.
Mr Tapiwa Kasema alleges that Rushwaya, as an agent of Zifa, connived with former programmes officer Jonathan Musavengana and Asian betting syndicate leader Raja Perumal and unlawfully authorised the national soccer team and Monomotapa FC to attend international sporting tours.
They allegedly arranged that the full nature of transactions would not be disclosed to the Zifa board and the Sports and Recreation Commission.
It is alleged Perumal funded the trips to Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Oman, Jordan, Bulgaria, China, Thailand and Yemen.
Rushwaya, between 2007 and 2009, allegedly engaged match officials, players, technical staff and media personnel in respect of all the 15 international games played and received US$1 million to throw away matches.
According to the State, witnesses will testify that they received clear instructions to concede goals at given intervals.
On the two counts of fraud, Rushwaya, in July 2009, allegedly arranged matches between the senior national football team, the Warriors and the Malaysian national team, which were not approved by Zifa.
All expenses for the trip were allegedly paid in Malaysia.
It is alleged Rushwaya, with the intention to defraud Zifa and the SRC, sent Monomotapa FC to Malaysia misrepresenting that it was the national team.
Source - TH
