Harare lawyer Admire Rubaya has described the arrest of a Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) officer Smart Marlon Mandofa as direct interference with possible witnesses in matter in which businessman Ofer Sivan is facing fraud charges.
Sivan fraud case in which he is accused of defrauding his business partners Gilad Shabtai and Munyaradzi Gonyora and trying to take control of their firm Adlecraft Investments is set for trial on March 28 before the High Court.
Working in cahoots with the police, Sivan is accused of causing the arrest of Mandofa who arrested him and targeted two other investigators.
They accused Mandofa and the other ZACC officers of associating with Shabtai whom they allege was on an outstanding warrant of apprehension and a fugitive from justice.
The warrant has however turned out to be nullity, which Dandanyika admitted, as it is not recognised at law having been issued on a non-existent provision.
He failed to justify the Shabtai fugitive claims after it was proved to him that the businessman was in the country last where he was cleared at the airport before meeting the president.
Mandofa was granted $100 000 bail by regional magistrate Stanford Mambanje after his arresting detail Albert Dandanyika was embarrassed in court, failing to state what he violated.
The State had opposed bail against him saying they had a strong case against him which however failed to stand with Dandanyika conceding that Mandofa was arrested for doing his job, receiving instructions and cases to investigate and arrest.
During cross examination, Dandanyika was at pains to prove that there was a red notice against Shabtai.
He also failed to prove that there is an existing case against Shabtai and was shown documents to show that the matter was declined by the prosecution.
He was accused of being a hired gun, brought to court to lie against his fellow cop who was seconded to ZACC before conceding to have him granted bail.
Rubaya further emphasised the illegality of the alleged warrant of apprehension saying it does not exist at law, reinforcing what Mandofa said in his warned and cautioned statement to the police.
“I have further learnt that the alleged warrant of arrest against the complainant was never a valid warrant in the first place. It was allegedly issued by her Worship Mateko basing on a non-existing provision of the law. There is no section 37 (1) of the CPEA which was allegedly used to issue a warrant of arrest.
“In the circumstances these charges are a clear abuse of the criminal justice system. If there was no valid warrant of arrest in the first place, then Gilad Shabtai was not on a warrant of arrest then these charges become a nullity.
“One cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand and it will collapse. The warrant of apprehension was itself an abuse of the criminal justice system for it was sought and granted based on non-existent provision of law and cannot be used to cause my arrest,” he said.
