Businessman convicted of fraud, jailed for 7 years

Businessman Washington Ferera has been convicted of perjury with intent to deceive the High Court after presenting a fake agreement of sale in a disputed land transaction, a regional magistrate ruled on Tuesday.

Regional magistrate Stanford Mambanje found Ferera (41) guilty and sentenced him to seven years in prison, with one year suspended on condition of good behaviour. Ferera had pleaded not guilty during the trial.

In handing down judgment, Magistrate Mambanje said Ferera's defence was unconvincing and riddled with inconsistencies, particularly regarding the timeline of events surrounding the alleged offence. The court accepted the State's version of events, finding that Ferera had deliberately misled the High Court.

The magistrate also found State witness Norman Mugiya to be credible, noting that his testimony demonstrated that Ferera and his wife, who remains at large, instructed him to process title deeds that were backdated to facilitate the fraudulent land acquisition.

Prosecutor Cecilia Mashingaidze told the court that between January and March 2018, Ferera and Scholastic Muringai, acting with the intent to deceive the High Court, signed a backdated and fraudulent agreement of sale for Lot 358 of Prospect, a 25.1499-hectare property. The agreement purported to sell the land to Schomet Industrial Holdings, with Ferera falsely presenting himself as the seller's representative, while Muringai acted on behalf of the purported buyer.

The State proved that as a result of this misrepresentation, the High Court and other relevant authorities were induced to transfer title deeds from Schomet Industrial Holdings to Maride Investments Trust through a court order, without the use of the original title deeds.

It further emerged that Muringai attached the fake, backdated agreement of sale to her founding affidavit in High Court case HC2670/2018, which was subsequently filed and relied upon by the court.

The court heard that Schomet Industrial Holdings suffered potential prejudice amounting to US$4.2 million as a result of the fraudulent misrepresentation to the High Court.

In convicting Ferera, Magistrate Mambanje underscored the seriousness of perjury and the need to protect the integrity of judicial processes, noting that the offence struck at the heart of justice by undermining the credibility of court proceedings.