Two prominent businessmen from Harare, Satishbhai Patel, 60, director of Honda Centre, and Ebrahim Mahomad, 57, director of Union Hardware, have been arrested and charged with fraud amounting to US$1.4 million. They appeared in court last week, facing accusations under Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act chapter 9:23.
The complainant, Meadow Sweet Investments (Private) Limited, represented by Nyasha Emmanuel Watyoka, alleges that Patel and Mahomad conspired to sell a partially developed property located at stand number 3081 in Salisbury township, Harare, without proper authorization.
According to the State’s case, Meadow Sweet Investments purchased the land, which had been developed to a double-storey level, in 2002 from John Dimitriou Mallis and Myrsina Myrtoula Dimitriou. The deed of transfer was registered in the name of Meadow Sweet Investments (Pvt) Ltd. However, in 2004, after all the directors left Zimbabwe, the property lay idle.
In 2011, Patel and Mahomad allegedly devised a scheme to defraud Meadow Sweet Investments. They purportedly drafted a special resolution claiming Patel was a director of the complainant’s company, thus enabling him to sell the property on its behalf. They also created a power of attorney, granting authority to fugitive Cuthbert Chengeta to transfer the property to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA). Ultimately, they sold the property to ZERA under fraudulent pretenses.
In 2023, Dr. Muchazoreka Richardson Nyamugama, one of the directors of Meadow Sweet Investments, returned to Zimbabwe intending to develop the property, only to find it renovated and in use by ZERA. Upon investigation, he discovered the property had been transferred to ZERA’s name based on a power of attorney signed by Patel.
The State asserts that Meadow Sweet Investments never authorized the sale and that Patel was never a director of the company as claimed. Moreover, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) indicated that the capital gains tax certificate presented during the transfer was fraudulent.
Prosecutors allege that Patel and Mahomad had no legal right to conduct the sale, resulting in a loss of US$1.4 million for the complainant, with no recovery of the funds reported. This case highlights significant issues regarding corporate governance and fraud within Zimbabwe’s business landscape, emphasizing the need for stricter regulations and oversight in property transactions. As legal proceedings continue, it remains to be seen how the accused will respond to these serious allegations.
