Lewis Matutu, the former Zanu PF youth league secretary, showed up at the Harare Magistrates Court on Tuesday. He's being accused of fraud. The court says Matutu unlawfully transferred 240 ordinary company shares to his name. He was supposed to be directing the company as part of a youth empowerment initiative but couldn't take the shares for himself.
The guy accusing Matutu is Joseph Evurath Sibanda. Sibanda is a director and shareholder of Shusib Investments. He started this company with his relative Lyton Shumba in 2012, and they had 2,000 ordinary shares between them.
Sibanda got permission from the Department of Parks and Wildlife to explore for minerals in the Shamva/Mufurudzi area. They gave him a 25-year lease to do this. Sibanda and his partner wanted to involve some youths to support the government's youth empowerment plan, so they brought Matutu in as a co-director of the company.
They also brought a company called Pambili Investments Corporation to represent the youths. Pambili Investments was given 240 ordinary shares in the company.
But in 2018, the court thinks Matutu worked with others to steal shares from the company. They say Matutu and his helpers prepared some annual returns papers and forged signatures, making it look like they were the majority shareholders, even though they weren't supposed to be.
Sibanda found out about this on September 30 when the Department of Parks and Wildlife Management told him Matutu had told them to stop mining operations. Sibanda says he lost US$150,000 because of what Matutu did, and he hasn't gotten any of that money back.
So now, Matutu has to go to court and face these fraud charges. It's a pretty serious situation, and it all started because he allegedly tried to take advantage of a youth empowerment initiative for his benefit.
The guy accusing Matutu is Joseph Evurath Sibanda. Sibanda is a director and shareholder of Shusib Investments. He started this company with his relative Lyton Shumba in 2012, and they had 2,000 ordinary shares between them.
Sibanda got permission from the Department of Parks and Wildlife to explore for minerals in the Shamva/Mufurudzi area. They gave him a 25-year lease to do this. Sibanda and his partner wanted to involve some youths to support the government's youth empowerment plan, so they brought Matutu in as a co-director of the company.
They also brought a company called Pambili Investments Corporation to represent the youths. Pambili Investments was given 240 ordinary shares in the company.
But in 2018, the court thinks Matutu worked with others to steal shares from the company. They say Matutu and his helpers prepared some annual returns papers and forged signatures, making it look like they were the majority shareholders, even though they weren't supposed to be.
Sibanda found out about this on September 30 when the Department of Parks and Wildlife Management told him Matutu had told them to stop mining operations. Sibanda says he lost US$150,000 because of what Matutu did, and he hasn't gotten any of that money back.
So now, Matutu has to go to court and face these fraud charges. It's a pretty serious situation, and it all started because he allegedly tried to take advantage of a youth empowerment initiative for his benefit.
