Trio in court for obstructing course of justice

Source: Trio in court for obstructing course of justice | The Herald April 6, 2019

Panashe Machakaire Herald Reporter
The trial of Element 22 Private (Pvt) Limited represented by Tarisai Bera and two accomplices who are facing charges of defeating or obstructing the course of justice after allegedly producing fake documentation and information to police detectives will commence on May 5.

Femina Masaire (31), Element Private 22 (Pvt) Limited represented by Bera and Last Clifton Chivero (59) appeared before Harare Magistrate Ms Barba Mateko, who postponed the trial to May 5for  continuation.

The State witness, Detective Assistant Kumbulani Maposa, of CID Vehicle Theft squad told the court that Masaire and Element 22 (Pvt) (Ltd) brought a trial mining offer letter fraudulently issued by Lawrence Gondo, an employee of the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation as evidence.

Prosecutor, Mr Peter Kachirika alleges that sometime in October 2018, Masaire, who is not licensed to deal in copper according to the Copper Control Act, purchased 59 tonnes of copper ore from Kelvin Tembo, a registered copper ore miner at Old Inyati Mine in Headlands.

Masaire posed as a registered and licensed copper dealer and produced a borrowed copper dealer’s licence belonging to Element 22 (Pvt) (Ltd) represented by Bera. Masaire paid $2 000 cash to Tembo and an additional $45 000 through Zipit to his Steward Bank.

The copper ore was weighed and loaded into two South African trucks on Masaire’s instruction and dispatched them to Beitbridge without documentation.

It is alleged the trucks were intercepted and impounded by police officers at Featherstone along Harare-Masvingo Highway and the drivers Kirsten Chirenje and Mtileni Piet were arrested for failing to give satisfactory account for the 59 tonnes of copper ore.

To that end, the trio hatched a plan to secure the release of the two drivers and took a trial mining offer letter fraudulently issued to Chivero by Gondo.

Chivero printed counterfeit invoices on his company’s letter head and attached them to Element 22 (Pvt) (Ltd)’s copper dealers permit, misrepresenting that Chivero’s company had acquired the impounded 59 tonnes of copper ore from the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation’s Mhangura Mine and sold it to Element 22 (Pvt) (Ltd).

Masaire and Element 22 (Pvt) (Ltd) took the fraudulent documents and presented them to CID Flora and Fauna Harare and Chivhu magistrate’s court, who both acted upon the misrepresentation, resulting in the two drivers being wrongfully released and their charges being withdrawn.

The trio were arrested after police investigations revealed that the documents fake.