Businessman up for car theft

Harare businessman Malvern Chimutashu, who was recently arrested and charged with theft of a motor vehicle, has been denied bail at the High Court and will be in prison pending trial.

Chimutashu (40) of Borrowdale, had his application for bail pending trial dismissed by Justice Esther Muremba who noted that the accused did not disclose in his application that he had two other pending cases before the courts.

Allegations are that on December 12, 2022, Chimutashu sold a Mercedes Benz (registration number AFX4285) to the complainant for US$6 728.

The complainant then put up the car for sale for US$15 000.

After learning that the complainant was selling the motor vehicle, Chimutashu told the complainant that he had secured a buyer and was given directions to the garage where the car was parked.

On February 15, 2023, Chimutashu and two other men proceeded to the garage where the accused was given the car keys for a test drive.

Chimutashu is said to have driven the car away and never returned it.

In the second case, Chimutashu is said to have defrauded another complainant of US$3 000 in 2013 and he is supposed to appear for trial on August 24.

Chimutashu is said to have lied that he was a lawyer and could represent the complainant in a court case he was facing.

Chimutashu was only arrested on June 6, 2023 in respect of the charge of theft of a motor vehicle.

The third case is another fraud matter involving US$235 000 which is at defence stage in the regional court at Harare Magistrates Court under CRB HRE R 636/2017.

The judge said the key question was if the applicant would stand trial or evade it if granted bail.

In light of these cases, there was no assurance that Chimutashu intended to stand trial.

"If information is needed on a particular point, courts should allow that information to be availed. This is why the law permits postponements in bail proceedings.

"If the accused persons want their matters dealt with urgently and expeditiously, they should ensure that they put all the relevant information in their applications.

"They cannot withhold information and then seek to rush the courts in making decisions in the absence of vital information.

"In casu if the applicant had been candid with the court right from the start about all his pending cases, we would not have postponed the hearings to enable the State to get the information from the lower court," said Justice Muremba.

"In view of the foregoing discussion, the application for bail pending appeal is dismissed."

In 2019, Ionna Kiki Georgias, the daughter of late former deputy minister Aguy Clement Georgias, was looking for a Mercedes Benz vehicle to buy and was referred to Chimutashu who showed her a Mercedes C200 with no registration plates and said he wanted to sell it for US$33 000 cash.

Ms Georgias agreed to buy the vehicle and made three payments of US$10 000, US$18 000 and US$5 000 to Chimutashu who then gave her the vehicle.

A few days later, Chimutashu allegedly gave her fake temporary registration number plates.

Investigations conducted found the car was not registered in Zimbabwe since it was brought in using a temporary import permit and it was impounded by Zimra.

Ms Georgias made a report to the police who then arrested Chimutashu before he appeared before the courts. During the trial, Chimutashu disappeared and a warrant of arrest was issued against him.