The trial of a Harare couple accused of fraudulently altering the directorship of Valley Lodges, a company linked to former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono, took a dramatic turn on Friday. Tonderai Karumbidza, a bank manager at ZB Bank’s Mutare branch, testified that the accused couple, Clark Clever Makoni and his wife Beverly Aisha Makoni, personally visited the bank and were assisted by bank tellers in facilitating the change of signatories to the Valley Lodges bank account.
Karumbidza’s testimony directly implicated the accused, contradicting their argument that there was no concrete proof of their presence at the bank when the alleged fraud took place. Despite the defense’s challenge regarding the absence of CCTV footage, the bank manager insisted that procedural documents and interactions confirmed the couple’s role in the fraudulent transaction. The defence attempted to discredit the State’s evidence, arguing that most submitted documents lacked original copies, but Karumbidza maintained that the records were accurate.
The case, which stems from allegations that the couple forged a CR14 form to appoint themselves as directors of Valley Lodges in August 2017, continues to unfold. The State alleges that they used the falsified document to misrepresent themselves to ZB Bank Mutare, gaining unauthorized access to the company’s accounts and siphoning funds. The matter was remanded to February 28 for further proceedings.
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