Businessmen Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu are using their properties as collateral to get bail while they wait for their trial on fraud charges involving US$7 million.
If they break bail conditions or flee, they could lose these properties.
Their initial bail request was denied by a lower court, so they are now asking the High Court for another chance. The bail hearing, set for yesterday, has ben postponed to tomorrow because important documents were missing.
Chimombe and Mpofu are offering property deeds to prove they will not escape or break bail conditions. They are trying to show they are not a flight risk.
The bail system aims to balance the suspect’s right to freedom with the need to ensure they attend their trial and do not interfere with witnesses. The court must decide if they will follow the bail conditions.
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Bail is usually granted unless there are strong reasons to deny it, and the prosecution must prove these reasons. A lower court magistrate, Mrs. Marehwanazvo Gofa, denied their bail, believing they were likely to be convicted.
Chimombe and Mpofu argue that this decision was wrong and have appealed to the High Court to overturn it.
Prosecutor Mr. Anesu Chirenje claims they forged documents to get a government contract to supply goats. Their company, Blackdeck (Pvt) Ltd, had issues with its tax clearance and compliance certificate. Despite this, they received a contract for 632,001 goats worth US$87.7 million. They only supplied 4,208 goats and used the remaining US$7.4 million for personal use.
