Former minister Biti under investigation of alleged US$200k corruption storm, accused of forging signatures
By Nigel Pfunde and Nyasha Chuma
Harare- IT never rains but pours for embattled senior member of the Citizen for Coalition for Change (CCC) Tendai Biti.
The temperamental former legislator is embroiled in an alleged US$231 000 fraud storm ,Express Mail Zim can exclusively reveal.
This publication can authoritatively report that Biti is been investigated by the CID Commercial Crimes Unit on two related matters reported at Milton Park police reference numbers CR76/11/22 and ER 135/22.
The complainants are businessmen Piwai Chiutsi and Mashwede Holdings director Tendai Mashamanda regarding attachment of a property located at 41 Ridgeway North in Harare.
Express Mail Zim had sight of a communique authored on October 30 by Detective Chief Inspector Acting Commanding Officer Team 1 (Commercial Crimes Division N/R CID) Mabasa S.
Biti allegedly forged a Special Power of Attorney and misrepresented to Chiutsi and Mashamanda that he had been instructed by United Kingdom based businessman Elliot Rogers to collect money from Chiutsi.
According to our impeccable sources, Chiutsi owed Rogers US$ 115 000.
“Biti was then paid US$231000 including interest and taxed legal fees,” said our source.
He allegedly wantonly neglected to pay anything to Rogers.
Rogers disowned the Forged Special Power of Attorney which was used by Biti resulting in the attachment of the said property.
Biti allegedly went on to forge numerous documents pretending to be Rogers, according to our source.
The matter was renewed last week, but dates back to 2020.
According to court records obtained by this publication, on February 26, 2020 at the High Court in Harare, Biti allegedly used his proxy identified as Constantine Chaza and he allegedly tendered a fake special power of attorney from Eliot Rogers in the matter in which the complainant, Tendai Mashamhanda, was the other party.
The court acted upon the alleged misrepresentation and allowed the filing of the files.
The matter came to light when Mashamhanda managed to contact Rogers in the United Kingdom who denied giving Biti any power of attorney and the matter was reported to the police.
The special power of attorney checked out by the CID Forensic Labaratory for analysis along with previous documents that Elliot had signed revealed major discrepancies.
It was proved that the signatures were not authored by the same person.
It is not the first time that Biti has been sucked in alleged grand corruption activities.
In 2022, he was embroiled in an alleged US$30 million storm after it emerged that during his tenure as financial minister during GNU, he instructed NSSA to deposit funds into two banks who were struggling and eventually collapsed.
