News / National
Mwonzora partner in court for theft
02 Dec 2014 at 06:24hrs | Views
HARARE lawyer Joseph Terera who is also a partner at Mwonzora and Associates appeared in court yesterday facing theft of trust property charges after he allegedly defrauded a client of $15 000.
Terera (44) of Glen View 8, Harare, was not asked to plead when he appeared before magistrate Milton Serima. He was remanded out of custody to December 15 2014 on $250 bail.
Prosecutor Sharon Mashavira alleged that sometime in 2012, a mining firm, represented in court by its project manager Justin Matenda, secured a $200 000 loan from Ecobank which was supposed to be settled in one year.
The court heard that the complainant failed to pay back the money as agreed, leading the bank to sue the firm for breach of contract in July this year.
It was then agreed that the firm would pay $15 000 per month to the bank for a period of 12 months.
In the lawsuit, the firm was represented by Tendai Toto from Mwonzora and Associates where Terera is a partner, the court heard. Toto allegedly advised the complainant that all repayments were to be done through Barclays Bank account number 21914500125 in which Terera and Douglas Mwonzora, who is the MDC-T secretary-general, were signatories.
On August 5 2014, the firm deposited the initial $15 000 pursuant to the payment plan agreed on by the parties earlier.
The complainant, the court heard further, continued to receive correspondence from Ecobank indicating that they were yet to receive payment since agreeing to the payment plan.
This prompted the complainant to approach the law firm, but Terera allegedly gave him excuses and at one time said the money had been transferred into their trust account at Kingdom Bank.
The complainant continued to make follow ups with the law firm, but to no avail. He eventually filed a police report.
Investigations were carried out and showed that the $15 000 deposited by the complainant was withdrawn by Terera and Mwonzora between August 5 and 15, 2014 and they converted it to their own use. Mwonzora was arrested over the same issue last week and later released on $500 bail.
Terera (44) of Glen View 8, Harare, was not asked to plead when he appeared before magistrate Milton Serima. He was remanded out of custody to December 15 2014 on $250 bail.
Prosecutor Sharon Mashavira alleged that sometime in 2012, a mining firm, represented in court by its project manager Justin Matenda, secured a $200 000 loan from Ecobank which was supposed to be settled in one year.
The court heard that the complainant failed to pay back the money as agreed, leading the bank to sue the firm for breach of contract in July this year.
It was then agreed that the firm would pay $15 000 per month to the bank for a period of 12 months.
In the lawsuit, the firm was represented by Tendai Toto from Mwonzora and Associates where Terera is a partner, the court heard. Toto allegedly advised the complainant that all repayments were to be done through Barclays Bank account number 21914500125 in which Terera and Douglas Mwonzora, who is the MDC-T secretary-general, were signatories.
On August 5 2014, the firm deposited the initial $15 000 pursuant to the payment plan agreed on by the parties earlier.
The complainant, the court heard further, continued to receive correspondence from Ecobank indicating that they were yet to receive payment since agreeing to the payment plan.
This prompted the complainant to approach the law firm, but Terera allegedly gave him excuses and at one time said the money had been transferred into their trust account at Kingdom Bank.
The complainant continued to make follow ups with the law firm, but to no avail. He eventually filed a police report.
Investigations were carried out and showed that the $15 000 deposited by the complainant was withdrawn by Terera and Mwonzora between August 5 and 15, 2014 and they converted it to their own use. Mwonzora was arrested over the same issue last week and later released on $500 bail.
Source - newsday
