Indian tycoons in US$1.4m property fraud

MOSES MATENGA

Two Indian business magnates, Satishbhai Patel, the director of Honda Centre Pvt Ltd and his co-accused Ebrahim Mohamed, the director of Union Hardware, allegedly forged documents to seize a property belonging to a Zimbabwean company and fraudulently transferred to the Zimbabwe Regulatory Authority (ZERA), causing the local firm to lose over US$1.4m, Business Times can report.

The two are being charged with fraud after forging documents including a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) Capital Gains tax certificate they used to execute their fraudulent plan.

The complaint in the matter is Meadow Sweet Investments Pvt Ltd represented by one of its directors, Nyasha Watyoka.

Documents available show that sometime in 2002, Meadow Sweet Investments purchased a piece of land which had been developed to double storey flats being stand number 3081 Salisbury Township of Salisbury Township land measuring 1170 square metres.

The property was bought from John Dimtriou Mallis and Myrsina Myrtoula Dimitriou Mallis and deed of transfer was done into Meadow Sweet Investments.

“After purchasing the said property, the complainant left it intending to renovate it later and change into an office complex. In 2004, all the directors of the company left the country hence there was no progress which happened,” documents show.

“Sometime in April 2011, and since the property had been lying idle, accused persons acting in connivance, hatched a plan to defraud the complainant and sell off the property.”

The Indian tycoons allegedly went on to draft a special resolution purporting that Patel was one of the directors of Meadow Sweet Investments and appointed to sell the property on behalf of the company.

“They went on to draft a power of attorney with Patel empowering Cuthbert Chengeta (NFPK) to transfer the property into the Zimbabwe Regulatory Authority (ZERA). Accused persons eventually sold the property to ZERA for US$1.4 million and it was duly transferred under deed number 2850/2011,” the documents read in part.

Things came to light when in 2011 one of the directors of Meadow Sweet Investments Dr Muchazoreka Richardson Nyamugama came back intending to make developments on the property but discovered that it had been renovated and was already under use by ZERA.

“Complainant made further inquiries and observed that the property had already been transferred to ZERA through deed number 2850/2011. Cuthbert Chengeta was the conveyancer during the process of transfer of deed through power of attorney signed by Patel.

“Complainant never at any given time met accused persons let alone authorize the sale of the property. Accused 1 (Patel) was never director of the complainant as purported on the resolution.

According to ZIMRA the Capital Gains tax certificate that was submitted to the Registrar of Deeds for the transfer of the property is not authentic and is not in their records.”

The matter was reported to the CID Commercial Crimes Division leading to the arrest of the two accused persons who have since appeared in court.

They are currently on remand.