Malvern Chimutashu, a Harare businessman who was recently detained and accused with theft of a motor vehicle, was denied bail in the High Court and will remain in prison until trial.
Chimutashu (40), of Borrowdale, was denied bail until trial by Justice Esther Muremba, who highlighted that the accused failed to mention in his plea that he had two other matters pending before the courts.
According to the allegations, Chimutashu sold a Mercedes Benz (registration number AFX4285) to the complainant for US$6 728 on December 12, 2022.
The complainant then placed the automobile up for sale for $15,000 USD.
After learning that the complainant was selling the motor vehicle, Chimutashu told the complainant that he had secured a buyer and was given directions to the garage where the car was parked.
On February 15, 2023, Chimutashu and two other men proceeded to the garage where the accused was given the car keys for a test drive.
Chimutashu is said to have driven the car away and never returned it.
In the second case, Chimutashu is said to have defrauded another complainant of US$3 000 in 2013 and he is supposed to appear for trial on August 24.
Chimutashu is said to have lied that he was a lawyer and could represent the complainant in a court case he was facing.
Chimutashu was only arrested on June 6, 2023 in respect of the charge of theft of a motor vehicle.
The third case is another fraud matter involving US$235 000 which is at defence stage in the regional court at Harare Magistrates Court under CRB HRE R 636/2017.
The judge said the key question was if the applicant would stand trial or evade it if granted bail.
In light of these cases, there was no assurance that Chimutashu intended to stand trial.
“If information is needed on a particular point, courts should allow that information to be availed. This is why the law permits postponements in bail proceedings.
“If the accused persons want their matters dealt with urgently and expeditiously, they should ensure that they put all the relevant information in their applications.
“They cannot withhold information and then seek to rush the courts in making decisions in the absence of vital information.
“In casu if the applicant had been candid with the court right from the start about all his pending cases, we would not have postponed the hearings to enable the State to get the information from the lower court,” said Justice Muremba.
“In view of the foregoing discussion, the application for bail pending appeal is dismissed.”
In 2019, Ionna Kiki Georgias, the daughter of late former deputy minister Aguy Clement Georgias, was looking for a Mercedes Benz vehicle to buy and was referred to Chimutashu who showed her a Mercedes C200 with no registration plates and said he wanted to sell it for US$33 000 cash.
Ms Georgias agreed to buy the vehicle and made three payments of US$10 000, US$18 000 and US$5 000 to Chimutashu who then gave her the vehicle.
A few days later, Chimutashu allegedly gave her fake temporary registration number plates.
Investigations conducted found the car was not registered in Zimbabwe since it was brought in using a temporary import permit and it was impounded by Zimra.
Ms Georgias made a report to the police who then arrested Chimutashu before he appeared before the courts. During the trial, Chimutashu disappeared and a warrant of arrest was issued against him.
Chimutashu went on Twitter and scoffed at a police radio that announced that he was on the run and said “that means I’m a good runner”
He also has pending rental arrears cases against two landlords including a top banker Tamai who leased him his property for one of his companies EBA Investments.
