Chimombe, Mpofu say High Court “grossly misdirected” in conviction and sentencing, take fight to Supreme Court
Lawyers representing convicted businessmen Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu say they will soon approach the Supreme Court to challenge both the conviction and the sentences, arguing the High Court erred in its ruling.
On Monday, the High Court sentenced Mpofu to 22 years and Chimombe to 17 years for defrauding the government of US$7.7 million under the Presidential Goat Pass-on Scheme, which was meant to supply goats to vulnerable rural households.
Mpofu will serve an effective 15 years, while Chimombe will serve 12 years after suspensions and restitution conditions were applied.
Speaking to journalists after the sentencing, Mpofu’s lawyer, Tapson Dzvetero, said they were dissatisfied with both the conviction and the punishment, insisting the matter would be taken to the Supreme Court in the hope of overturning the decision.
“We are going to the Supreme Court. Our clients think that the superior court will come to a different decision. Our clients believe that the court grossly misdirected itself in its findings, from both the conviction and the sentences, so we have to hear what the Supreme Court says,” Dzvetero said.
The defence argues that the foundation of the conviction is legally flawed.
“We are challenging the conviction that the court has found that there was a fraud perpetrated by a fictitious person. Our clients feel that the judgment itself is contradictory. They do not understand the basis upon which the conviction is built, particularly because this relates to an existing company,” Dzvetero added.
He said both businessmen were “aggrieved” by what they regard as inconsistent reasoning within the ruling, insisting the company alleged to have been used in the fraud was real and could not justify the court’s conclusion.
The State maintains the pair knowingly submitted falsified documents to secure the goat-supply tender and failed to account for millions in public funds. _*NewZimbabwe*_
