By Judith Nyuke
The trial of local businessman Clark Makoni and his wife Beverly, who face charges of fraudulently transferring former Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono’s company into their names, is nearing its conclusion, with Gono scheduled to appear in court.
The State indicated that only two witnesses, Gono and investigating officer Eric Chacha, remain to testify before their case closes.
Gono is scheduled to give evidence in court on June 13.
At the start of their trial before regional magistrate Stanford Mambanje, the couple denied the fraud allegations, frequently referencing Gono and claiming that all previous witnesses were unaware of their agreements with him while eagerly awaiting his testimony.
The trial continued on Friday with the State presenting evidence from Fadzai Chiro, a former accountant at Valley Lodge, who testified she met Clark during her 2023 job interview and was seeing Beverly for the first time in court.
She told the court that her job was to prepare monthly reports, budgets and salary schedules.
The State alleges the couple forged a CR14 form, appointing Clark as director and company secretary and Beverly as his deputy.
They are further accused of misrepresenting themselves to the bank as new shareholders to change account signatories, subsequently taking over the complainant’s company, accessing its bank accounts, and stealing funds.
While Chiro stated she only learned of the allegations when her statement was recorded, previous witness Lindiwe Sabeka claimed the couple, acting as estate agents managing Valley Lodge, misappropriated money as salaries.
As the accountant, Chiro stated she no longer had complete knowledge of everyone on the salary schedules and might miss names if asked to list them.
She explained that the front office received money, which was then transferred to the accounts office, and she paid individuals based on instructions from her manager, Elizabeth Tachiona, confirming she never paid commission to the couple nor knew of Galwex, the company auditor Sabeka allegedly came from.
