Gono fraud case collapses

Business couple Clark Clever Makoni and Beverly Aisha Ndonda Makoni have been cleared of all fraud charges after the High Court struck down the case, sharply criticizing the lower court for "creating new offences" to keep them on trial.

The Makonis had been accused of defrauding former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono of $100,000, linked to a portfolio of properties they managed for him between 2017 and 2019. Prosecutors alleged that the couple had falsified documents to alter directorship details of Valley Lodge (Pvt) Ltd, effectively seizing control of the business and its accounts. The state claimed this caused Gono a loss of approximately ZWL$172 million, roughly US$100,000.

The couple challenged Regional Magistrate Stanford Mambanje's earlier dismissal of their discharge application, arguing that the prosecution's case was "barren of evidence" and built on fatally defective charges. Their lawyer, Admire Rubaya, told the High Court that the magistrate had committed gross misdirection by introducing new particulars of fraud halfway through the trial- allegations that had never been presented at the start.

"The court cannot, by any stretch of its powers, seek to panel beat the charge for purposes of placing the accused persons onto their defence," Rubaya argued. "It must avoid the temptation of doing the state's bidding. It laid its bed, it must lie on it – and never rise from it."

Justice Neville Wamambo Dembure agreed, delivering a scathing judgment that accused the magistrate of effectively acting as prosecutor by attempting to "reinvent" the allegations. He ruled that the lower court had created a new charge for the Makonis to face, which is not permissible, as framing particulars of a case lies solely with the state.

Ordinarily, superior courts are hesitant to intervene in ongoing lower court proceedings, but Justice Dembure deemed this a "rare case" where intervention was unavoidable due to the "dangerous path" taken by the magistrate.

The defence had argued that the prosecution's case was a "failed fishing expedition," noting that critical witnesses conceded that the directorship of Valley Lodge had remained unchanged since 2009. Additionally, the state failed to substantiate claims that the couple had withdrawn US$70,000 from the company's account.

"The state is acting like a soccer player who dives at the centre circle and then clamours for a penalty," Rubaya remarked, describing the prosecution's approach as theatrical and untenable.

With the High Court ruling that the charges were invalid and that the magistrate had erred in law, the case against Clark and Beverly Makoni has collapsed entirely, clearing the couple of all allegations.