THE complainant in the extortion case against the officer-in-charge of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) fraud section, George Machinga (44), yesterday claimed former Bulawayo Zanu PF youth league chairperson Butholezwe Gatsi was the go-between.
SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER
Pardon Dube (38) of Harrisvale in Bulawayo told the court that he had handed the money to Gatsi to pass on to Machinga.
Dube revealed this when he was being grilled by Machinga’s lawyer Mlamuli Ncube before Bulawayo magistrate Gladmore Mushove.
Ncube had initially asked Dube how many statements the police had recorded from him.
Dube indicated that he had made two statements on June 20 and June 25. Ncube asked why his two statements differed as the one recorded on June 20 indicated that he handed over the money to Machinga in his office. The money had been photocopied and its serial numbers kept by the police.
In the June 25 statement, Ncube said Dube stated he had handed the money to Machinga in the presence of Gatsi, yet in his oral evidence in court, he said he handed the money to Gatsi to give to Machinga. Ncube accused Dube of lying in court because of the contradicting statements.
“The truth is that I handed the money to Gatsi who passed it on to the accused as he was sitting next to him and that does not change the fact that I produced the money from my pocket and gave it to him,” Dube said. Ncube asked who had conducted the search in Machinga’s office and Dube indicated that it was some police officers.
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He said the police searched in two metal cabinets and found no money, but finally found it stashed in a bottom drawer.
They compared the money with the photocopied notes and serial numbers, which matched.
However, Ncube said Machinga would argue that it was Dube who had searched him.
According to the State’s case, on June 19, Dube was called by a Detective Sergeant Ncube to the CID fraud office on allegations of fraud.
Dube was alleged to have masqueraded as a lawyer.
He went to the CID offices where he allegedly approached Machinga to seek clarification on the matter.
Machinga allegedly advised Dube to look for $550, which he said would be divided into $300 for buying his freedom and $250 for refunding one Cordellia Bhachisi, a “client” he had once dealt with. Machinga then allegedly took Dube’s plastic national identity card as surety that he would return.
On June 20, Dube looked for $300 and sought the help of a police commander at police headquarters, and a plan was hatched to trap Machinga.
The State said some notes with distinctive features were handed to Machinga as part of the trap.
On June 20 at around 2.20pm, Dube went to give Machinga the money at the CID fraud offices and his ID was returned to him.
On his way out, Dube alerted a Chief Inspector Nsingo and his team who rushed to Machinga’s office and conducted a search.
The money was allegedly recovered from him after a thorough search.
