News / National
Woman teams up with lawyer to defrauds ex-hubby of over US$100 000
24 Feb 2012 at 20:56hrs | Views
HARARE woman allegedly teamed up with her lawyer and swindled her ex-husband of more than US$100 000. The pair allegedly presented a fake High Court order to an estate agent who was receiving money on behalf of the woman's former husband.
Colleen Beatrice Benatar (45) and her lawyer Mark Warhurst (44) were on Thursday not formally charged when they appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Anita Tshuma.
They were remanded out of custody to March 5 this year on US$100 bail. They were also ordered to surrender their passports and to report once a week at their nearest police stations.
Colleen is the former wife of the complainant Robert Benatar who is one of the directors of Capital Brake (Pvt) Ltd.
Prosecutor Mr David Magwegwe says on May 31 last year, Mr Benatar sold Capital Brake Company Mutare for US$200 000 through an estate agent called Laws Organisation. It was agreed that the payment was to be made to Laws Organisation trust account held by Kingdom Bank.
A deposit of US$130 000 was made in the account and subsequent installments of US$5 800 were to be made over a period of a year until the balance of US$70 000 was fully paid up.
Following the disposal of the property, the State says Colleen and Warhurst hatched a plan to defraud the complainant of the proceeds of the sale of the property. It is alleged, the pair drafted a record of settlement between the complainant and Colleen, which they filed with High Court under HC5257/2011, which is still pending at the High Court.
Colleen Beatrice Benatar (45) and her lawyer Mark Warhurst (44) were on Thursday not formally charged when they appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Anita Tshuma.
They were remanded out of custody to March 5 this year on US$100 bail. They were also ordered to surrender their passports and to report once a week at their nearest police stations.
Prosecutor Mr David Magwegwe says on May 31 last year, Mr Benatar sold Capital Brake Company Mutare for US$200 000 through an estate agent called Laws Organisation. It was agreed that the payment was to be made to Laws Organisation trust account held by Kingdom Bank.
A deposit of US$130 000 was made in the account and subsequent installments of US$5 800 were to be made over a period of a year until the balance of US$70 000 was fully paid up.
Following the disposal of the property, the State says Colleen and Warhurst hatched a plan to defraud the complainant of the proceeds of the sale of the property. It is alleged, the pair drafted a record of settlement between the complainant and Colleen, which they filed with High Court under HC5257/2011, which is still pending at the High Court.
Source - TC
