THE corporate rescue practitioner at Fools Investments (Pvt) Ltd has asked the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) to facilitate the recusal of its investigating officer, Willem Adams, from a case in which an ex-senior police officer is allegedly being accused of trying to extort money from him.
Dumisani Dube of Dube Legal Practitioners is accusing former senior police officer Victor Jaja and five others of extortion.
The six are alleged to have name-dropped the First Family in the extortion scandal.
They have also reported Dube and Fools Investment acting chief executive, Mohammed Daka, on allegations of fraud involving the company owned by a Chinese investor Xu Xiao Fel.
On May 29 this year, the lawyers wrote to Zacc executive secretary Sukai Tongogara, requesting that Adams be recused from any case involving Fools Investments due to conflict of interest and lacking objectivity.”
“He is a close friend and former workmate of Victor Jaja who served with him at Zimbabwe Republic Police, Avondale, Harare and we know Jaja, Munyaradzi Charakupa, Tawanda Mangi and Percy Pemba are using him to interfere with the corporate rescue process at Fools Investments (Pvt) Ltd in terms of the Insolvency Act,” Dube’s lawyers said.
“Your officers in Bulawayo can brief you further on the matter. Further, a few weeks ago, using an improper search and seizure warrant, he grabbed the original Master of High Court file under CRPB 1/24.
“This has interfered with ongoing corporate rescue proceedings as original security documents have all disappeared and some have been given to the four (4) accused persons in violation of confidentiality and interference with our corporate rescue proceedings in terms of the Insolvency Act.”
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The lawyers also argued that it was a clear case of abuse of office, requesting an impartial officer to take over the matter.
“This is to avoid bringing such a respectable office into disrepute. A simple inquiry of facts from your fellow offices shows that today (29 May) we were supposed to be in court in the Zacc matter against the rogues,” the letter read.
“Surely, the timing of this inquiry clearly shows that we shouldn’t testify against these four. Jaja cannot be powerful enough to disgrace and manipulate a respectable institution.
“We also request a copy from the original record unlawfully obtained from the Bulawayo Master's Office without following due legal procedures. It has grossly hindered our operations in terms of section 124 of the Insolvency Act.”
Meanwhile, Dube told Southern Eye that he and Daka have been arrested, pending bail application.
They are being charged with fraud. The complainant in the matter is cited as Xu.
Daka (47) is cited as the first accused, while Dube (38) is the second accused in court papers.
Allegations are that sometime in April 2024, acting in connivance and with the intention to fraudulently deprive Xu and the directors, they generated a fake power of attorney giving Daka power to manage Fools Investments.
“The accused persons went further to generate a fake board resolution for Fools Investments (Pvt) Ltd, misrepresenting that the company directors had agreed to put the company on voluntary corporate rescue due to financial distress,” it is alleged.
It is further alleged that Dube made an application to the Master of the High Court for the placement of the company under corporate rescue, submitting the two forged documents as attachments.
The court papers state that the Master of High Court, acting on the forged documents tendered to his office by Dube, issued the corporate rescue certificate.
“As a result of the corporate rescue certificate which the accused persons corruptly and fraudulently obtained using false or fake documents generated by the accused persons, the two as per their connivance and intention succeeded in taking over the company with accused 1 as the chief executive officer and accused 2 as the corporate rescue practitioner,” the papers read.
“The fraudulent takeover of the running of the company caused prejudice to the good administration of the company, which also suffered prejudice in terms of mining proceeds yet to be quantified.”
