TINASHE MAKICHI
An aggrieved Chinese investor based in Midlands, Fung Ying Ge has reported Prosecutor General Kumbirai Hodzi to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) over alleged corruption involving the way in which a USD$150 000 case is being treated by the State.
The case which involves the accused, Tamboonei Maronga, Chinese Shen Yonghua and Liu Minghe reported under case number 2084-5/18 has on several occasions failed to take off prompting the complainant Ying Ge to raise corruption allegations against the judicial system.
The accused three are facing 48 counts of fraud and an extra charge on violation of immigration laws on Minghe.
Ying made a police report in Gweru after his company, Bunday Technical Mining
Private Limited lost more than US$ 150 000 through fraud and stealing by its employees Liu Minghe, Shen Yonghua and Tamboonei Maronga.
The three faced 48 counts of fraud and theft while Liu Minghe was also charged for violating his immigration status by operating locally without a valid work permit.
Furthermore, in violation of his temporary employment permit Minghe registered a company called Minghe Mining Pvt Ltd 776/2018. Shen Yonhua who is the third accused has since left the country.
In a letter seen by Business Times which is dated July 23, 2019 and addressed to ZACC chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo, Ying Ge said he has endured all manner of harassment by the accused person’s colleagues who openly told him of their capacity to manipulate the justice system.
“I would like to lodge a complaint concerning the treatment of a case in which I am a complainant. The case has been plagued by unexplained delays and tampering with court papers. This has left me with little faith in Zimbabwe’s justice delivery system.
“I am hoping that the appointment of your commission will ensure that justice is finally done in this matter as I have had to endure all manner of harassment by the accused person’s colleagues who openly tell me that they will manipulate the justice system to ensure that
the criminal proceedings are useless,” said Ying, who is the owner of
Midlands-based Bunday Technical Mining Private Limited.
It is understood that money could have changed hands among several prosecutors to an extent that one prominent prosecutor Justin Uladi once ordered the case to be removed from the trial roll despite existence of overwhelming evidence of fraud, sources have said.
Initially when the case went to court in December 2018, according to Ying, there were several delays as prosecutors in Gweru told him theywere being threatened by Gift Karanda of Squeed Mining Private Limited.
Ying made a complaint resulting in the case being transferred to Bulawayo by the Prosecutor General to begin trial proceedings.
“At this point, I was relieved as I believed that I would finally get fair treatment and justice was to be served. Unexplained delays and connections in prosecution in Bulawayo the case has since been postponed four times with no proper explanation for the postponement.
“This has heightened my anxiety because in between the court proceedings Liu Minghe’s current employer Zhao Kai would openly tell me that they would pay their way around the system to ensure that Minghe gets away,” said Ying.
“They advised me to withdraw the matter against them if I was clever. He said that they have a link within the prosecution who would help if I agreed to withdraw the matter. This worries me once again and I have lost faith that whatever proceedings I have in this matter will be
successful.”
According to Ying, after the first Bulawayo postponement, he was visited by men who claimed to be police officers at the company’s mining premises but surprisingly they were asking for the company’s Environmental Management Agency compliance certificates.
After legal consultations, Ying was advised that the visit by the police officers were improper as they were acting outside their mandate and also without a search warrant.
During the course of the matter, Ying also realised that the charge sheets and state outlines were changed just when the Prosecutor General gave an instruction that the matter be transferred to Bulawayo.
Liu Minghe’s immigration violation had been removed from the charges but the issue had to be corrected after a complaint had been raised.
“The trial is still yet to start and there have been further postponements with no real reason being given. My lawyers in Bulawayo advised me that this could lead to the accused’s trial being stopped until the prosecution was prepared.
“Prosecutors had however, informed me that the papers were ready for trial. These unexplained delays, tampering with of court papers, unusual visit to my premises by people claiming to be police officers and what Zhao Kai’s boast to me about their connections in prosecution
have led me to believe that I will not get justice in this matter,”
said Ying.
“Zhao Kai, Karanda are acting to force me to withdraw the matter.
Because of the unexplained delays I now believe they truly have
connections in prosecution. I do not feel I should be forced to
negotiate justice where crimes have been committed against my company.
The accused persons even compensated US$150 000 after they admitted to
falsifying invoices to steal from Bunday and we signed an agreement to
settle the issue.”
However, the company discovered that much more had been stolen and
there are missing invoice books which the accused person did not
explain their whereabouts.
In quest to get justice, Ying even approached Chinese Ambassador over the issue.
Matanda-Moyo could neither confirm nor deny receiving the letter of complaint against the Prosecutor General. “I can neither confirm nor deny because at my office I receive a lot of letters.”
Efforts to get a comment from PG Hodzi were fruitless as he was in meetings although he had promised to get back to this publication.
