A Bulawayo woman accused of forgery, which led to the attachment of property worth over US$30 000 belonging to a United Kingdom-based man, has applied for discharge, citing a lack of evidence linking her to the charges.
Sithabisiwe Ncube (44), a City of Bulawayo employee, is accused by Timothy Moyo of forging his signature.
At the time, Moyo was in the UK.
It is alleged Ncube used the forged documents to obtain a court order to attach Moyo’s wife’s Mercedes-Benz E220, imported from the UK in 2021, along with other household property.
She reportedly claimed that Moyo owed her substantial sums of money.
Ncube appeared before Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Collet Ncube facing charges of forgery and fraud.
On January 28, her lawyer, Tinashe Tashaya of Tashaya Law Chambers, filed an application for discharge, arguing there is insufficient evidence to proceed.
The defence argued that the State has failed to establish a prima facie case against Ncube.
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They submitted that, in terms of Section 198(3) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, no reasonable court could safely convict based on the evidence presented.
The State alleges that on October 13, 2023, in Bulawayo, Ncube forged an acknowledgement of debt in Moyo’s name.
It is claimed she inserted an amount of US$16 000 and forged his signature, falsely representing that the document was genuine.
The application further indicated that the acknowledgment of debt is dated October 13, 2023, while the document examined by the expert was dated September 2, 2024.
The lawyers also pointed out that the expert did not compare the complainant’s signature on older documents signed before the dispute arose.
During cross-examination, it emerged that the signature on Moyo’s UK driver’s licence, passport, and Zimbabwean identification documents differ in construction.
“This clearly shows that the complainant signature pattern is not consistent hence chances of his manipulation of the Acknowledgment of debt signature,” reads the application.
On the fraud charge, the State alleges that Ncube misrepresented facts to the civil court by presenting a forged acknowledgment of debt and claiming Moyo owed US$16 000 instead of US$6 000.
The defence, however, presented evidence challenging this.
Moyo’s claim that he never borrowed more than US$6 000 from Ncube.
“It further shows that the complainant is not a credible witness and this court should discard all his testimony.
“As regards the other part of the misrepresentation, the part of forgery, the accused submits that the moment the charge of forgery falls away, these allegations on forgery misrepresentation cannot stand,” reads the application.
Regarding the misrepresentation element tied to forgery, the defence submitted that if the forgery charge falls away, the related fraud allegations cannot stand.
“Thus the accused person is entitled to a verdict of not guilty and Acquitted in both counts. Wherefore accused person pray that the Court returns a verdict of not guilty and be acquitted in both counts,” reads the application.
The ruling on the application was postponed to February 26.
The State opposed the discharge, arguing that Ncube has a case to answer.
