Lebanese in court for for $265 000 swindle

via Lebanese in court for for $265 000 swindle 12 January 2015

A LEBANESE national, who allegedly misappropriated $265 000 in a botched mining deal, has appeared before Gweru magistrate, Morgan Nemadire, facing theft charges.

Taleb Mohamad (51), who is director of Acquirium Trading (Pvt) Ltd, allegedly converted the money transferred by the complainant, Tamira Overseas SA, which holds a 48% stake in Acquirium Trading (Pvt) Ltd to his personal use.

But Mohammad through his lawyer Alec Muchadehama denied the charges saying Tamira failed to abide by the agreed business regulations resulting in the serious dispute between him and Tamira.

Tamira Overseas is represented by Heena Jayant Joshi, a shareholder in True Brethren (Pvt) Ltd, which also holds a 3% stake in Acquirium.

Mohamad said there was no trust agreement between his company and Tamira and that the accusations were meant to push him out of Acquirium in “serious dispute” over ownership of the company.

Nemadire postponed the trial to 2 February when state witnesses will testify in court.

Allegations are that in April 2012, Joshi met Mohamad and a Russian, Nocolay Verenko, who is also a partner in Tamira Overseas SA.

The trio had business discussions on mining and Joshi later made contact with Mohamad with the intention of investing in the mining business.

In July of the same year, Joshi met Mohamad to verify the existence of mining claims in Gweru.

Joshi offered to fund mining operation with a loan of $400 000 under an agreement and the money was released over three months from October to December 2012.

Further allegations are that between April 2013 and June 2014 Joshi injected $2, 75 million into Acquirium Trading (Pvt) Ltd African Banking Corporation’s bank account number 10008873902025 from Tumira Overseas.

Mohamad remained the sole signatory of the bank account, making Joshi suspicious in the manner business was being run.

The matter came to light after an internal audit allegedly revealed that Mohamad misappropriated $265 958 and nothing was recovered.