This week, Wayne Victor Moss, a businessman from Harare, was found not guilty of defrauding a businessman in the city of US$25,000 by falsely claiming that his co-accused had offshore cash in the UK.
The court determined that rather than taking part in any deceit, Mr. Moss had only forwarded an email from a contact.
Along with Kudakwashe Gambanga, a director of Avanteguard (Pvt) Ltd., Mr. Moss, managing director of Machiareer Investments (Private) Limited, trading as Mr. Brands, a local food and beverage processing company, was charged.
Mr. Moss was exonerated of all charges by Mbare magistrate Ms. Feresu Chakanyuka since the prosecution was unable to prove a case against him. The court has not yet rendered a decision about Gambanga, who escaped from custody shortly before the announcement of the outcome of the discharge application, which was granted in Mr. Moss’s case.
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Gambanga has routinely missed court dates over the previous four years, which has resulted in multiple arrest warrants. Through his approach to various Harare magistrates who were not familiar with the case, he was able to have these warrants revoked. Once the prosecution was finished and the verdict was prepared in April, Gambanga missed court once more, leading to the issuance of an arrest warrant. According to reports, he may be traveling using a UK passport while in hiding.
Mr. Moss was found not guilty of any allegations of fraud after Ms. Chakanyuka granted his second request to have the trial separated so he could read the verdict. The separate decision from Gambanga is still pending.
An expert witness from the Webdev email domain provider stated in court that Mr. Moss passed Gambanga’s email to Liju Vargese, the complainant, after receiving a fictitious evidence of payment from the latter.