HARARE - Trial dates for Air Zimbabwe and Navistar Insurance Brokers (Private) Limited (Navistar) bosses, facing fraud and theft of trust property charges, have been set.
Air Zimbabwe’s company secretary Grace Nyaradzai Pfumbidzayi; ex-chief executive Peter Chikumba; ex-acting chief executive officer Innocent Mavhunga, and Navistar bosses Givemore Nderere, Vukile Hlupo and Orten Mawire, appeared before Harare magistrate Donald Ndirowei.
Pfumbidzayi and Chikumba will be tried on August 13 although Chikumba will also appear for another trial in a case that he is jointly charged with Mavhunga on August 25.
Nderere, Hlupo and Mawire’s trial date was set to August 18.
Prosecutor Michael Reza claims the trio connived with Chikumba and Pfumbidzayi to defraud the national airline by inflating aviation insurance premiums.
It is alleged the group presented several inflated debit notes to the airline, leading to payments of aviation insurance premiums last year.
The payments were allegedly made to Colemont Reinsurance (Private) Limited and Marsh Reinsurance Brokers (Private) Limited, both United Kingdom-based companies.
Prosecutors told the court that as a result of the misrepresentation, the airline’s finance department released €15 783 452, 93 to Navistar.
According to State papers, Navistar bosses only remitted €10 607 859,22 to the two international brokers and pocketed €5 895 695, 49.
In May 2009, it is alleged Navistar received $142 300 from the airline for onward transmission to the European Commission to dodge sanctions.
They allegedly converted the money to their own use.
It is further alleged that Colemont Insurance issued debit notes to Air Zimbabwe for aviation insurance premiums between 2009 and 2010, after the Navistar trio allegedly connived with Pfumbidzayi and Mavhunga to pay aviation insurance in the sum of €713 921, 04.
The court heard that the group, acting in connivance, received $796 079,80 from Air Zimbabwe for insurance cover.
The money was supposed to be paid to Altfin Insurance Company (Private) Limited.
The group allegedly pocketed the money, leaving the airline uninsured for four years.