Subject: Market Fraud - Based on a True Story
From: "Zimbabwe Online"
Date: Thu, July 15, 2004 10:05 am
To: newkenya@riseup.net
Priority: Normal
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PRELUDE
The events below are based on factual happenings that
took place in 2003 and 2004. Names, locations and
dates have either been altered or are altogether
fictitious because the matter is due in court any time
in the latter part of the year 2004. The key suspects
were apprehended and are out on bail. It appears like
a full proof case in what appears like the slim
probability of the perpetrators being set free, but
the law can be wretched and there is therefore just as
equal a probability of the suspects being set free.
The suspects confessed to everything on the night of
their arrest, but if they hire a good criminal lawyer
they stand the very good chance of being set free.
Such is the fragility of the life that we live.
It appears that the victim is already aware of the
infringement on his holdings and there is no telling
what his reaction or that of his representatives will
be. At stake, among other things, is US $ 450,000, the
possible claim for payment of punitive damages, jobs,
careers and a fragile stock market.
This message has therefore been let out in the open to
enable public input that is likely to lessen the
possibility of a miscarriage of Justice. Something as
minor as a comma can wretchedly alter the course of
litigation.
Please read on and help where you can, anonymously or
in person.
PART I- SURVEILLANCE
On September 11th 2003 a Goan who introduced himself
as David Pereira came to the Harare offices of Trans
Oceanic Plantations (Caribbean, Americas, Asia,
Africa, New Zealand), known in short as TOP-CAAAN, and
asked to see me, David Sentwana, regarding a
shareholding transfer. TOP-CAAAN as it’s name
suggests, has interests in sugar, coffee, tea and
cocoa in the Caribbean, the Americas, Asia, Africa and
New Zealand, and has been in operation for 55 years
now. I joined TOP-CAAAN as a management trainee in
mid-1999 and had just completed 4 years of service. I
was attached to the TOP-CAAAN share registry office as
a relationship officer at the time of Mr. Pereira’s
visit and therefore found nothing strange in being
asked for, even though there existed a registry front
office. I remember the exact date of Mr. Pereira’s
first visit because I had just come from a dentist’s
appointment to get a filling for one of my molars.
David Pereira was a pleasant heavily built and dark
skinned Asian and his mannerisms easily revealed that
he was born and brought up in Zimbabwe. I invited Mr.
Pereira into the interview room where we briefly
engaged in pleasantries and dull banter about how we
both shared the same first name. Thereafter Mr.
Pereira produced a TOP-CAAAN share certificate which
bore the names Stephen Benedict Pereira, which he said
belonged to his late father, and which his mother
discovered two years previously while unpacking,
following the family’s relocation to South Africa. The
family, according to Mr. Pereira, had since put the
matter aside pending the visit of a close family
member to Zimbabwe. Mr. Pereira further told me that
his family did not treat the matter as urgent as the
entire estate of his late father had already been
transferred to his mother, and regarded the discovery
of the TOP-CAAAN share certificate as a minor
omission. Moreover, the shareholding was for a small
amount of 50 shares valued then at US $ 140. Since he
was in Zimbabwe on other business, he had decided to
check on the small unfinished business of the
TOP-CAAAN shareholding in the name of his late father.
I took one look at the aged share certificate and
could immediately tell that it was generated many
years earlier when TOP-CAAAN was known as Northern
Rhodesia Plantations and Mining (NRPM) and was based
in Zambia (then known as Northern Rhodesia). While
introducing the subject Mr. Pereira had mentioned that
his father once worked for a tour company in the
Zambian copper-belt, and it was probably at this time
that he acquired the shareholding. The date of
acquisition on the share certificate was 25th March
1959.
I checked the office database and did not find a
TOP-CAAAN shareholding in the name of Stephen Benedict
Pereira which was not odd in such old cases related to
NRPM. I however told Mr. Pereira that I would run a
check on the share certificate at the Harare Central
Registry (HCR) where manual records relating to the
now defunct Northern Rhodesia Plantations and Mining
were held, and give him an answer in two days. I told
Mr. Pereira that it appeared that the share
certificate in his hands had likely been reported lost
years ago and a replacement issued. His father must
have then sold the replacement, only for his family to
discover the misplaced share certificate years later.
Such cases were relatively common, but I nevertheless
told Mr. Pereira to await formal confirmation from HCR
in the next two days. Mr. Pereira was not opposed to
this as he was going to be in the country for another
three weeks. He left me with his local cell phone
number to enable me notify him when HCR came up with
an answer.
There was a slight delay from HCR and they got back to
us on 17th September 2003. As anticipated, records at
HCR indicated that the share certificate of 50 shares
shown to me by Mr. Pereira had been reported lost on
17th May 1977 and a replacement issued on 14th June
1977. Replacement share certificate No. TOP-CAAAN
A40554 for 50 shares was then sold with other bonuses
belonging to Stephen Benedict Pereira amounting to 400
shares, on 16th October 1984. Embarrassed at the delay
and at my assurance that it would not take not more
than two days, I immediately called Mr. Pereira to
notify him of the findings and apologize for the
delay.
Mr. Pereira took no offence and was in fact very
appreciative of my efforts, so appreciative that he
wanted to buy me a drink. I declined the offer telling
him that it was not necessary. Mr. Pereira however
insisted that he would feel bad if he didn’t show his
appreciation to me for me treating him so well. I
thought about the likely implications for a brief
moment, and then accepted Mr. Pereira’s offer to buy
me a drink, not sensing any ulterior motive and not
wanting to offend him. Mr. Pereira was glad at my
acceptance and said that he would call me in the
coming week for us to arrange a date and a time. He
asked for my cell phone number, but I instead gave him
the office number.
Sure enough, Mr. Pereira called me first thing on
Monday morning, 22nd September 2003, and proposed that
we meet on Wednesday, 24th September 2003 at 6.00 p.m.
at the elite Zambezi Cavern on the outskirts of
Harare. I agreed to this because I regularly
entertained valued TOP-CAAAN clients at the Zambezi
Cavern and knew it very well, and because of it’s
proximity to the Tutwane suburb, where I resided. Mr.
Pereira’s promptness at arranging the meeting did
however make me curious and thoughts of him being a
homosexual and wanting to go to bed with me did cross
my mind at this stage. If this was so, I intended to
brush him off in a firm but civil manner, in the same
way that I handled a similar situation eight years
earlier, while a student at Illinois State University
in the USA.
I drove to the Zambezi Cavern on Wednesday, 24th
September 2003, and arrived some minutes before 6.00
p.m. to find Mr. Pereira eagerly waiting for me. The
Zambezi Cavern had been a whites only establishment
before independence and still retained symbols of the
colonial era such as the life size portrait of the
last colonial premier, Ian Smith, that hang in the
disused billiards room. For some peculiar reason, this
never bothered the sizable and growing number of
blacks that continued to patronize the Zambezi Cavern
since independence 23 years earlier. Blacks probably
regarded it as a sign of conquest for Ian Smith’s
portrait to behold. I say this because despite being
black, I didn’t identify much with the Zambezi Cavern
and didn’t care much about it either, treating it more
as an ideal location for entertaining valued TOP-CAAAN
clients under my customer care portfolio. I quiet
frankly spent very limited of my personal time at the
Zambezi Tavern, preferring numerous other Harare
establishments that did not have a tag, where I could
freely be myself.
Mr. Pereira welcomed me warmly and we got round to
discussion on a wide number of topics ranging from
business, politics, and sports, to women,
relationships, and sex, invariably. He ordered a
sumptuous meal of roast goat meat, fried vegetables
and grilled potatoes dressed with the trademark
Zambezi Cavern sauces. We both downed the meal with
gusto. Mr. Pereira, who henceforth asked me to call
him Dave, also put me at ease by freely and fluently
conversing in ‘Ndeshoeng’, a dialect derived from
Ndebele, Shona and English, and mainly associated with
black rebellious youth of post-independent Zimbabwe.
It was extremely rare for Asians and Whites in
Zimbabwe to speak Ndeshoeng and considered Dave a
rogue Asian, telling him as much. Dave laughed
heartily, saying that I had made an accurate
observation. I myself had never really cared about
Ndeshoeng or been fluent in it either, but this
changed after I jointly formed and became part of a
rap group called ‘Sunset’, soon after my return from
the states in mid-1997.
Dave ordered a bottle of the best champagne in the
house to down our meal as we engaged in further lively
discussion. I was in a good mood as much as Dave was,
but I could tell at this point that our meeting was
more than a token of appreciation, more even than the
seduction of a heterosexual by a homosexual.
PART II – ENGAGEMENT
As the evening wore on and the champagne took effect,
Dave gathered the courage to tell me what our meeting
was all about. He said that the he was aware that his
late father had sold his shares in TOP-CAAAN way back
in 1984, having found this out slightly before I
joined TOP-CAAAN in mid-1999. Dave, in his words, had
therefore taken the trouble of making contact with me
for a different reason, something much bigger and
something that would possibly interest me. He told me
that he had been given my name by an undisclosed
reference, who was confident of a key role I could
play in assisting a lucrative venture. Dave told me
that he and his unnamed associates were aware of
lucrative, sizable and dormant shareholdings in
TOP-CAAAN that were acquired several years earlier
when TOP-CAAAN traded as Northern Rhodesia Plantations
and Mining (NRPM). These were mainly registered in the
name of Whites and Asians, who were either deceased or
had left Northern Rhodesia in a panicky huff, fearful
of reprisals from the incoming Black government of
independent Zambia under President Kenneth Kaunda.
Dave said that ‘we’ could take advantage of such
dormant accounts through fraudulent share sales on the
Harare Stock Exchange (HSE). The risks were minimal
and the returns high, given that the owners of the
targeted accounts, if still be alive, were scattered
in North America, Europe, the Middle East, the Far
East, the Indian sub-continent, Goa and Oceania, with
no intentions of ever coming back to Zambia or
Zimbabwe. The Trustees of Estates of deceased
TOP-CAAAN shareholders were probably less aware of the
shareholdings, as Northern Rhodesia Plantations and
Mining (NRPM), had started of as a small remote
concern with a shaky shareholding, and a dim future.
Against all odds however, NRPM had grown into the
profitable TOP-CAAAN of today, and had made an above
normal return to initial shareholders through numerous
dividend payments and several bonus share issues. When
NRPM was incorporated initially, it’s shares cost no
more than a few US cents, but now traded at the high
HSE mean price of US $ 6 per share.
All this came as shocking news to me. Perhaps I was
ready to right off all that Dave was telling me until
he dropped the ultimate shocker. Dave told me that
they had already executed a successful fraudulent
transaction worth US $ 230,000 right under our noses
and without detection. I believe that the alcohol in
me at that moment simply evaporated. Dave told me they
managed their successful criminal undertaking in
February 2003. He further told me that my role would
be to search the TOP-CAAAN share register for dormant
accounts. The way to determine this would be through
identifying accounts that had unclaimed dividend
payments over a period of 15 to 40 years. Dave said
that the bigger the value of a dormant account I
identified the better, telling me to target dormant
accounts with values ranging from US $ 600,000 to US $
900,000, or bigger if possible. Dave said that my
reward for this would be a very generous and I would
be able to fulfill all my wildest dreams. Dave however
told me that I needed to make a quick decision on
whether I wanted to join or not. Dave kept repeating
that chances of detection would be minimal and that
any trail would promptly be destroyed. Dave said that
if I decided in, then I would need to notify ‘them’
soon to enable effective planning. Dave did however
mention the existence of White in the scam called
Richard. Dave would front for a dormant Asian owned
shareholding, while Richard would front for a dormant
White owned shareholding in the books of TOP-CAAAN.
Whites and Asians in Zimbabwe still benefited heavily
from a privileged status, and their dealings were
seldom questioned. Dave said that ‘we’ needed to fully
exploit this bias. A White or Asian in Zimbabwe could
very easily open an account of US $ 100,000 without
drawing questions, as opposed to a Black like me. To
ally my fears, Dave said that this would be resolved
through very dependable contacts he had in the
Bulawayo branch of National Bank of Zimbabwe (NBZ),
who would easily enable me open an account of US $
100,000 or US $ 200,000, depending on the size of the
job. The cash transactions of the February 2003
mentioned to me by Dave, had actually been processed
through NBZ, Bulawayo, according to Dave. Dave told me
that Richard was based in South Africa, where he
actually was currently, and a meeting could be
arranged between the three of us in the next two weeks
time if I agreed to join ‘them’. Dave told me that he
would call me the following week on Monday for my
answer.
I sat there in shocked, bewildered and stupefied
silence all the time I was being told this. I didn’t
let this show on my face though, and Dave must have
interpreted this as a good sign of me doing the
calculations of gain in my head. We broke off at about
10.00 p.m., Dave telling me that he was driving to his
room at the Harare Sheraton, and me to my house in
Tutwane. I drove home in stone cold reflection that
night, wondering what I had gotten myself into and how
to handle it. I clearly realized that the choices I
had were not easy. Joining ‘them’ in the dead-end
career of crime was out of the question for me and I
ruled this out. What worried me though was that
‘these’ people knew me ‘well’ and had conferred before
approaching me. They could come for me and finish me
if I turned them in and this concerned me. I could
also simply tell Dave that I did not want to have
anything to do with their wretched schemes, turn a
blind eye and keep quiet about the whole thing without
telling a soul. This would however also be
irresponsible, unforgivable and criminal in the
highest degree, and would have made me an accessory to
a crime or crimes. In a curious and twisted way, I
would end up a criminal if I decided to join ‘them’,
or if I held back from joining ‘them’. There were also
risks in simply making the right decision and turning
in Dave and his associates to the authorities. Such
was the difficult predicament that I faced. I didn’t
worry much about who might have referred Dave & Co. to
me, because I was an outgoing person who as mentioned,
had even jointly formed and been part of a rap group
called ‘Sunset’. Five Years after ‘Sunset’ folded up
and four years after working at TOP-CAAAN, there were
still people in Harare who recognized me more for
“Sunset’, than for TOP-CAAAN.
PART III – EXECUTION
I woke up the following morning still confused and
still hoping that my meeting with Dave the previous
evening was just a figment of my imagination, a dream.
I prepared to go to work all the time reflecting on
how to deal with the situation I now found myself in.
I got to work as usual at 7.00 a.m., read the two main
Harare dailies, prepared myself a cup of coffee and
drank it as I finalized a report on TOP-CAAAN’s
expansion of operations to the East African region of
Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. I never ordinarily did
tasks of this nature but the head of TOP-CAAAN
operations had asked me to do it for her as a favor.
The office secretary, Deborah, came in as usual at
7.30 a.m. teased me momentarily as usual, and then
went to her desk. Deborah was very fond of me,
probably because ‘Sunset’ were a hit when she was in
high school. At about 8.30 a.m., I called my estranged
wife Theresa to chat. Theresa worked for the Coca Cola
Company in Zimbabwe as a marketing executive. We had
met four years ago at a public relations workshop for
key corporations in Zimbabwe, courted for a year, were
married for two, and separated for the last one,
typical of youth marriages nowadays in Zimbabwe.
Theresa could tell something was wrong, because I only
called her at that time of the morning when something
was wrong. I almost told her what I was calling her
about, but hesitated because of her penchant for
drama. I could almost be sure of seeing what I told
her on the 6 o’clock news that evening. I instead told
her that I had developed butterflies about enrolling
for an MBA at Harare University and needed
encouragement, which Theresa was good at. She
encouraged me on not knowing why I had called her
about in the first place. I however decided to keep my
meeting with Dave to myself until I was certain that
what he told me on the evening of 24th September 2003
was not designed to start a wild goose chase.
I spent the rest of the week and weekend in my usual
mood doing the usual things. No one close to me
noticed any significant change in my mood which I
considered positive. From this point on however, I
decided to carefully detail any dealings I would have
with Dave or anyone linked to him.
Dave called me at 10.00 a.m. on Monday morning, 29th
September 2003 and was very pleasant as usual. After
the pleasantries, Dave asked me if I had made a
decision on the matter we had discussed and I told
Dave that I first needed to meet him and Richard
together before making a decision. Dave was delighted
to hear this, considering it a positive answer. Dave
suggested that the three of us could meet at the
Victoria Falls Hotel on the border of Zimbabwe and
Zambia the coming weekend and I told him that this was
ridiculous. Dave loves the fast life and I wasn’t sure
whether he was serious or joking. Either way, I wasn’t
making a trip to the border at such short notice. Dave
laughed and shrugged it off, and said that he would
arrange a meeting for the three of us the coming
Friday, 3rd October 2003, at the Hotel
Intercontinental, Harare. Dave called me again on
Wednesday, 1st October 2003 to confirm whether our
meeting of Friday was still on and I responded
affirmatively. Dave told me that he and Richard would
be at the Hotel Intercontinental, Harare, at 6.00 p.m.
I arrived at the Intercontinental at 6.05 p.m. on
Friday, 3rd October 2004 and found Dave and Richard
waiting for me at the lobby. Dave introduced me to
Richard as David Sentwana and he to me as Richard
Jeremy Martin. Richard told me that his friends called
him RJ and he therefore wanted me to call him RJ. Dave
and RJ were certainly determined to induce camaraderie
as quickly as possible. After the introduction, Dave
and RJ suggested that we take a table in the secluded
Gazelle restaurant. RJ ordered three cold beers, Mvuma
lagers, for the three of us, before getting down to
business. RJ told me that he was an accountant by
training and had worked for South African Breweries
for several years, before resigning and venturing into
the tours and travel business in South Africa. He told
me his tour firm was called RJ tours and travel and
had been in operation for eight years. He and Dave had
known each other for 12 years, having first met in
Malawi where Dave was marketing his firm’s computer
software products and RJ was doing feasibility studies
for the establishment of a brewing plant in Malawi.
Both their businesses were going through hard times in
2002 when an undisclosed acquaintance of Dave’s
introduced the subject of dormant shareholdings at
TOP-CAAAN. Dave’s undisclosed acquaintance was a
former employee of the Harare Central Registry (HCR).
RJ says that he initially hesitated but bought in
after they sent a letter to TOP-CAAAN asking us to
change the postal address of a dormant account
provided by the former employee of the Harare Central
Registry (HCR). The former HCR employee provided the
specimen signature of the dormant account and Dave and
RJ, arranged for the same to be forged on to the said
letter at a seedy down town Harare joint. Proof that
their criminal venture had worked emerged when RJ
received a TOP-CAAAN dividend cheque at a Johannesburg
postal address he used for dubious dealings. The
dividend cheque was for US $ 10,000 and it is this
more than anything, that encouraged Dave and RJ on.
Forged documents were prepared for RJ, and he used
these to open an account at National Bank of Zimbabwe,
Bulawayo, using Dave’s contacts. When the cheque
cleared and the monies withdrawn without a hitch, RJ,
posing as the shareholder, then resorted to
corresponding with TOP-CAAAN, saying that he had
misplaced his share certificate and wanted to be
issued with a replacement. As mentioned, the enquiring
shareholder was White and no objections were therefore
raised. The necessary replacement documents and
indemnities were duly executed and RJ received a
replacement share certificate after two months. RJ and
Dave thereafter arranged for a prompt sale of the
shareholding through Maryland Stockbrokers of Harare.
Dave acted as RJ’s appointed representative in all
matters by way of a written letter of authorization,
and this aided in the smooth flow of matters.
I told RJ and Dave that I appreciated this lengthy and
detailed background to their first successful job and
was encouraged enough to join them. Dave and RJ were
clearly elated with Dave proposing a toast at the
entry of their latest recruit. It was about 9.45 p.m.
when we toasted, having each had five beers each.
After the toasting and hearty, elated conversation, I
told RJ and Dave that I was curious to know the name
of the victim. Dave and RJ hesitated briefly before RJ
told me that it belonged to one Anthony Stephen
Wilkinson. I then gave both Dave and RJ my cell phone
number and RJ gave me his. Dave and RJ told me that
they were both frequently in and out of Zimbabwe and
either one of them would make contact with me in the
next two weeks to establish progress made. We also
agreed that we would henceforth primarily communicate
through our cell phones. I parted ways with Dave and
RJ at 10.00 a.m. and caught a taxi home as engine
repairs were still being done to my car. I was more
confident on the night of 3rd October 2003 than I was
on the night of 24th September 2003, because I could
now approach my superiors with more concrete details.
On Monday morning, 6th October 2003 I arrived at the
office as usual at 7.00 a.m. skipped reading the
papers, and immediately logged on the network to check
the TOP-CAAAN shareholding details of one Anthony
Stephen Wilkinson. Sure enough, the entire
shareholding of 78,000 shares was disposed of on 25th
February 2003. Prior to this, the shareholding postal
address had been altered from Murrayfield Close, 22
Sandra Street, Yorkshire NF4 NJ5, United Kingdom, to
Sisulu Drive, P.O. Box 45, Johannesburg, South Africa
on 18th September 2002. The US $ 10,000 dividend
cheque Dave and RJ told me was for the final year
ended 30th June 2002, which fell due on 25th October
2002. The dividend cheque was en cashed on 27th
November 2002 according to our records. The magnitude
of what I was dealing with sunk in at that point. I
was further mystified and perturbed by the
recklessness of the people I was dealing with. Had
they blown up US $ 230,000 in the short period of 7
months, because the pair were eager that we get on
with a second job as quickly as possible?
At precisely 8.06 a.m. on Monday, 6th October 2003, I
called the TOP-CAAAN share registry head, Ken
Masatwana, and told him that I needed to see him
immediately about some highly sensitive information I
had. Masatwana told me it was okay for me to go and
see him immediately. I spent about 40 minutes giving
Masatwana graphic details of my encounter with Dave
and RJ. Masatwana was in two words, shell shocked but
remained calm and composed as was his trademark.
Masatwana then called Deborah and asked her to
immediately fetch Anthony Stephen Wilkinson’s file
from the basement safe that contained all shareholder
records. As was the practice, Deborah went down to the
basement with one of the office duty guards, to
complement the two basement guards posted there on a
full time basis. Deborah could tell that something was
wrong and this was clearly noticeable on her face.
Meanwhile, Masatwana told me to go to my office as he
conferred with the General Manager, TOP-CAAAN and
TOP-CAAAN Plantation Security Unit (PSU). This I did.
At 2.45 p.m. on Monday, 6th October 2003, Masatwana
called me and asked me to go to his office which I
did. In it I found Masatwana and Senior Superintendent
of Police (retired) Joshua Mudzurire, the dreaded head
of TOP-CAAAN Plantation Security Unit (PSU). Mudzurire
had been head of TOP-CAAAN (PSU), for 11 years now,
before which he had worked with both the Zimbabwe
Police Force (ZPF), and the Zimbabwe Intelligence and
Security Unit (ZISU). Mudzurire welcomed me warmly and
put me at ease. He asked questions mainly related to
work at TOP-CAAAN and my job profile, before
specifically enquiring about Dave and RJ. He asked
about their appearance, mannerisms and cars they
drove. It appeared that Mudzurire was trying to
establish whether he could place Dave and RJ in his
database. Mudzurire then told me that he and Masatwana
had met the General Manager TOP-CAAAN that morning and
a decision to play along had been made. The
administrative offices of Harare TOP-CAAAN were
actually housed in one sprawling complex located on
the western outskirts of Harare city. The five coffee
plantations proper were situated in the five provinces
of Manicland, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland
North, and Midlands. Mudzurire concluded by telling me
that I was also scheduled to meet the Director of the
Zimbabwe Intelligence and Security Unit (ZISU), Col.
(ret.) Arthur ‘Shomron’ Sexwale, at the ZISU offices
the following morning at 8.00 a.m. in the morning. The
magnitude of what I had gotten myself into kept
sinking deeper and deeper.
Col. Sexwale, head of ZISU, was a highly respected
figure in the whole of Zimbabwe. Sexwale initially
served in the elite Chiredzi Battalion of the Zimbabwe
Army (ZA), towards the end of which he attended
specialised training in Israel. During his training in
Israel, it is said that Sexwale was partly under the
supervision of Brig. Dan Shomron, who headed the
daring and stunning rescue of Israeli hostages from
Uganda’s Entebbe airport in 1976, hence his nickname
‘Shomron’. On his return from Israel Sexwale helped
form ZISU and was the first head of it’s the Scorpion
unit. The nickname ‘Shomron’ held because it is said
that Sexwale and Brig. Shomron had a liking for each
other, and because Sexwale in his own right,
coordinated the demise of the dreaded drug cartel, Zim
triangle, in a four year period between 1982 and 1986
that ended in a heavy exchange of fire between
Zimbabwe Security Forces and Zim Triangle on 18th May
1986. The successful operation earned Sexwale
Presidential and Military citations. I couldn’t
believe that I was going to have the honour of meeting
Sexwale, and that this matter was that serious.
I arrived at the ZISU offices on Machel Street at 7.45
a.m. on Tuesday, 7th October 2003 and went through the
normal security checks. It was clear that I was being
expected because I was not subjected to any close
scrutiny at all and was immediately led to Col.
Sexwale’s fourth floor office. Sexwale like Mudzurire
the previous day, welcomed me warmly with a firm
handshake, offered me a seat and even personally
poured me a cup of TOP-CAAAN coffee. I couldn’t
believe I was in the presence of the legendary Col.
Arthur ‘Shomron’ Sexwale, and not nervous at that. I
even told Sexwale that I still admired him greatly for
crushing Zim triangle, for which he thanked me,
smiling mildly, shyly and reflectively. Sexwale did
not however waste time getting to the point. He told
me that TOP-CAAAN was very important to the economy of
Zimbabwe, hence the seriousness with which this matter
was being treated. Quite a bit was at stake and the
government would certainly be displeased to hear about
the incident I had reported. Sexwale told me he was
due to meet the Minister of Internal Security that
morning on a different matter, but would not mention
the incident I had reported until we had established
greater details. Sexwale told me that I would be the
linkman in reining in the suspects in an operation to
be coordinated by Company 13 of ZISU and TOP-CAAAN
Plantation Security Unit (PSU). Sexwale concluded by
telling me to be careful and return to the office
where I would receive further briefing from Mudzurire.
I returned back to the office and went straight to
Masatwana’s office to give him details of my meeting
with Sexwale. Masatwana told me that he and Mudzurire
would work on identifying a dormant account and let me
know in due course. Meanwhile, Masatwana dropped
another bombshell and told me that TOP-CAAAN General
Manager, Stanley Davidson, would be visiting the share
registry that afternoon. Things appeared to be moving
at a breathtaking pace.
Davidson had been General Manager of TOP-CAAAN for
twenty years and was as no-nonsense as they come. His
grandfather Reverend Nicholas Hubert Davidson came to
Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia), in 1921 and was key
in establishing the West Nicholson Elementary,
Intermediate and Senior Schools, the West Nicholson
Polytechnic and the West Nicholson Hospital, all in
the Matabeleland South province. Reverend Davidson and
his family were therefore highly respected in
Zimbabwe. His grandson, Stanley Davidson, was born,
brought up and educated West Nicholson. Stanley was
fluent in both Ndebele and Shona, and was regarded as
the representation of a true Zimbabwean, having
refused to defect when President Mugabe took over
leadership in April 1980. Many did not even regard
Davidson as a White and he was even nicknamed
‘Mzilikazi’, after the revered patriarch of the
Ndebele in Zimbabwe. On a personal note, Davidson
reminded me of my estranged wife Theresa, firm but
moody.
Davidson’s meeting with TOP-CAAAN share registry staff
was scheduled for 5.30 p.m., 7th October 2003, after
formal office hours. Mudzurire was also in attendance.
Masatwana was first to speak saying that there
appeared to have been a breach of serious magnitude at
TOP-CAAAN share registry, which was likely to cost
TOP-CAAAN as a whole a lot of money. Masatwana said
that action was already being taken and asked all of
us to exercise extra care and diligence in our duties.
Masatwana did not however divulge any details.
Davidson basically repeated what Masatwana had said
with minor additions. We could all tell that he was
suppressing his fury, but he lapsed at one point by
revealing that he had always regarded us highly, but
was grateful that we had finally emerged in our true
colors as ‘thick Zimbabweans’. This was typical of
Davidson and no one took offence. He spoke to all
workers in this way regardless of their race. Davidson
however cautioned that he would spare no one found to
have deliberately facilitated the breach, and we
didn’t doubt him. The meeting concluded at 6.15 p.m.
without Davidson speaking directly to me, though he
must have known my role in the matter. Mudzurire did
not speak and I gather he was on an intelligence
gathering exercise. The mood among staff thereafter
was understandably one of confusion and anxiety,
because very few of us were aware of what had actually
happened. Staff hurriedly gathered in multi-racial
groups and spoke in anxious whispers. Deborah
typically helped lighten up matters by saying that she
would supervise delivery of all office stationery to
the printers the following morning for the logo to be
replaced with the initials ‘TZ’. All of us looked at
Deborah in bewilderment for a split second, before she
reminded us that we were ‘thick Zimbabweans’, picked
up her handbag and walked towards the waiting staff
van. We all burst out in laughter. Deborah has witty
cheek.
Staff at TOP-CAAAN staff registry however got to
basically know what had happened over the following
two weeks. Masatwana cautioned us to keep the breach
within ourselves in a supplementary meeting. Mudzurire
appeared to believe that the breach did not directly
involve TOP-CAAAN share registry staff, and so he and
Plantation Security Unit Staff largely centred their
investigations elsewhere. Masatwana however thought
differently but did not openly show it.
Towards the 17th of October 2003, Masatwana called me
to his office, where I found him in the company of
Mudzurire. Masatwana with Mudzurire’s approval, gave
me details of an account I was to give Dave and RJ
when they next made contact with me. The account was
in the name of one Fredrick Parker Smith of 22
Foulkener Drive, Alice Springs, Australia. The account
had a shareholding of 22,000 shares then valued at
slightly over US $ 125,000 and additionally had
unclaimed dividends dating back to 1974 totaling US $
25,000. Masatwana, Mudzurire and I agreed that this
was sure to be attractive to Dave and RJ. Mudzurire
told me to regularly keep him informed on any
developments henceforth and gave me his cell phone
number. This was important as this would also give him
ample time to notify Company 13 officers of ZISU
attached to the case.
RJ called me on my cell phone on Monday morning, 20th
October 2003 and got to the point after limited
pleasantries. I told him I had identified an
attractive dormant account. RJ was excited to hear
this and suggested that we meet at the less
conspicuous Harare Holiday Inn that evening. I told
him that was fine and we agreed to meet at 6.00 p.m.
that evening. After my conversation with RJ, I
immediately called Mudzurire who was glad that Dave
and RJ had made contact. Mudzurire said that he would
arrange to be discreetly present at the Harare Holiday
Inn that evening with one or two Company 13 officers.
I met RJ some minutes after 6.00 p.m. on Monday, 20th
October 2003. RJ ordered the beers, after which I
immediately gave RJ the details of Fredrick Parker
Smith’s shareholding. RJ was ecstatic saying that it
fitted the profile perfectly, and said that we could
immediately commence work on it. I took RJ one step
back and told him that I was disappointed to note that
Anthony Stephen Wilkinson’s shareholding which he and
Dave had fraudulently disposed of, reflected regularly
cashed dividend payments. I asked him to explain this,
as he and Dave had assured me of minimal risks. RJ was
cleared stunned by this unexpected question and made
every effort to calm my nerves. He admitted that he
and Dave had not told me everything regarding Anthony
Stephen Wilkinson’s shareholding. I feigned anger,
disappointment and betrayal which RJ went to great
pains to dispel. RJ told me that the Anthony Stephen
Wilkinson matter had been referred to him and Dave by
the still unnamed former employee of Harare Central
Registry (HCR), which in turn had been referred to him
by local Zimbabwean Whites who knew the family of
Anthony Stephen Wilkinson.
He and Dave had then met the HCR man and the
unidentified local Whites in a series of meetings to
plot their criminal act. I told RJ that Anthony
Stephen Wilkinson appeared to be alive which meant
that the matter would soon blow up. I asked how he,
Dave and all other involved people, intended to deal
with this. RJ had no words. He admitted that he and
Dave had decided to de-link themselves from the HCR
man and the unidentified local Whites, and start on a
fresh slate of crime. RJ told me that the Anthony
Stephen Wilkinson saga was an eye-opener for him and
Dave, which had encouraged them to go it alone. They
hoped to make between US $ 1 to 1.5 million and call
it quits after that. What came to mind was that I was
dealing with amateurs who seemed to have a lot of
trust in me for one reason or another. I told RJ that
the success of our criminal act depended on us being
open with each other, and he fully agreed. He promised
that he and Dave would no longer hold back any
information from me. I noted the presence of Mudzurire
at the east end cafe at some point during my
discussion with RJ and knew we were under
surveillance. RJ asked me if I could provide him with
Fredrick Parker Smith’s signature, and I told him to
give him till Wednesday, 22nd October 2003, to arrange
for the same.
RJ and I parted ways at 7.45 p.m. on Monday evening,
20th October 2003. The tension that featured at the
start of the meeting fizzled out towards the end. I
got home at 8.05 p.m. and immediately called
Mudzurire. Mudzurire told me that they were present
throughout the entire duration of my meeting with RJ.
He did not specify who ‘they’ were, but he must have
meant officers from ZISU Company 13. Mudzurire told me
he would be at the office first thing the following
morning when I would have a chance to brief him of
what transpired in my meeting with RJ.
The following morning, Tuesday, 21st October 2003 at
8.10 a.m., Masatwana called me and asked me to go to
his office. I expectedly found Mudzurire eagerly
waiting for my verbal report. Both Masatwana and
Mudzurire listened to details of meeting with RJ with
great intent without interrupting me, and this enabled
me finish in about twelve minutes. Mudzurire stared at
me briefly at the end, gave a heavy sigh, clamped his
hands tightly together momentarily and said ‘thank
you, Sentwana’, in his characteristic sluggish deep
voice.
Mudzurire told me that Masatwana would arrange for me
to get a copy of Fredrick Parker Smith’s signature the
following morning to enable me deliver it to RJ.
Mudzurire also told me to prepare a written report of
my meeting with RJ of 21st October 2003. This would be
the third report I would be preparing having already
prepared two lengthy reports. I could tell intuitively
from the kind of treatment I was getting lately from
certain parts of the office, that I was regarded as
suspect and party to the first fraudulent transaction.
I could understand this, because I had not involved
anyone in the office initially, and notified the
office after I had already had two meetings with Dave
and one with RJ. I did not let this cloud my focus
however. It did get me thinking though. I realized
that I hadn’t notified any close family member of mine
as yet, regarding the matter, which could also prove
costly in it’s own way. That evening, I sent a
detailed e-mail to my older brother Kevin, in Nairobi,
Kenya, where he works for the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP). I made sure I used my
personal Yahoo e-mail address and likewise, his
personal Yahoo e-mail address.
Kevin called me on my cell phone first thing the
following morning as I was preparing to leave my house
in Tutwane. Kevin was very supportive and
congratulated me for alerting my superiors. He like
Sexwale, also told me to be careful in my dealings
with Dave and RJ and told me to keep him regularly
updated through e-mail inspite of the fact that it
wasn’t full proof. He was also thrilled to hear that I
had met Col. Sexwale.
RJ called me at 9.15 a.m. on Wednesday morning, 22nd
October 2003, to enquire whether I had acquired a copy
of Fredrick Parker Smith’s signature, and I told him
that I had. He was elated and asked if we could also
meet that evening at 6.00 p.m. at the Harare Holiday
Inn, which I accepted. I immediately called Mudzurire
on his cell phone to alert him. Mudzurire asked me if
Masatwana had as yet given me a copy of Fredrick
Parker Smith’s signature and I told him that he
hadn’t. Mudzurire told me that he would arrange for
this in the next one hour. Sure enough, Masatwana
called me to his office at 10.30 a.m. to give me a
copy of Fredrick Parker Smith’s signature.
At 5.45 p.m. on 22nd October 2003, I called Mudzurire
on his cell phone to notify him that I was on my way
to meet RJ at the Harare Holiday Inn. Mudzurire told
me that they were actually already there awaiting both
me and RJ. I got to the Holiday Inn at 6.00 p.m. and
found RJ waiting for me. On this occasion we opted to
have coffee instead of beers, TOP-CAAAN coffee at
that. Whilst the coffee was being brought, I gave RJ
the copy of Fredrick Parker Smith’s signature. RJ told
me that he intended to prepare a dummy letter to
TOP-CAAAN from Fredrick Parker Smith saying that he
had changed his residence worldwide several times over
the past 30 years and was now settled in the United
Kingdom. RJ’s letter would state that he i.e. Fredrick
Parker Smith had stumbled upon some old documentation
relating to his shareholding in TOP-CAAAN and was
therefore writing to enquire on it’s status. This had
also been further aided by him i.e. Fredrick Parker
Smith, continually hearing frequent and favorable
mention of TOP-CAAAN performance on the UK financial
markets. RJ said that he would use the UK address of
undisclosed contacts of his to avoid raising
suspicions because Anthony Stephen Wilkinson had
written a similar letter and had his UK postal address
altered to a South African postal address. The current
postal address of Fredrick Parker Smith on the
TOP-CAAAN share register was Australian and it would
not appear irregular that he had relocated residence
several times over the years, and was now based in the
UK.
RJ would arrange for Fredrick Parker Smith’s initial
letter to be hand delivered to TOP-CAAAN. Standard
procedure would be for TOP-CAAAN to verify Fredrick
Parker Smith’s signature and content of his letter,
with what we had on record, and respond as required by
the shareholder. The major point of reference was
actually the shareholder’s signature, which would
match in this case. TOP-CAAAN would then send Fredrick
Parker Smith the information he had asked for,
accompanied by indemnities covering the issuance of a
dividend draft for a total amount of US $ 25,000. This
would be sent to Fredrick Parker Smith’s UK address as
indicated on his letter. RJ’s UK contacts would then
send TOP-CAAAN’s response to his South African postal
address by DHL to enable signature appending and
processing of forgeries. TOP-CAAAN would then process
a draft of US $ 25,000 and send it by registered post
to Fredrick Parker Smith’s UK address. RJ’s UK
contacts would again similarly send the draft by DHL
to RJ in South Africa. As in Anthony Stephen
Wilkinson’s case, Dave would then arrange for an
account to be opened for Fredrick Parker Smith at
National Bank of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, where the draft
would be processed. Forgeries and other criminal
processing fees would amount to about US $ 7,000
according to RJ, which would leave Dave, RJ and myself
with US $ 6,000 each.
In between this, Fredrick Parker Smith would also
write another letter saying that he was also not in
possession of his share certificate, which again, was
understandable. The issuance of a replacement share
certificate would go through a similar process,
meaning that we would reap criminal gain from the
draft and the sale of the shares, around the same
time. In the meantime, Dave and RJ expected that I
would be working on identifying other big dormant
accounts worth US $ 1,000,000 to enable us wind up our
criminal venture in the space of six to nine months.
We would thereafter part ways for good. RJ estimated
that we would be able to obtain Fredrick Parker
Smith’s replacement draft within seven or eight weeks’
time, as he would arrange for delivery of Fredrick
Parker Smith’s initial letter to TOP-CAAAN on Monday,
27th October 2003. We concluded our meeting on this
detailed understanding at 7.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 22nd
October 2003. RJ told me that like Dave, he stayed at
the Harare Sheraton whenever he was in town.
I got home at about 7.40 p.m. on Wednesday, 22nd
October 2003, called Mudzurire and gave him a seven
minute briefing of my meeting with RJ. Mudzurire
listened intently as usual and at the end, told me to
prepare a written report the following day and deliver
it personally to his office.
The next four weeks were quiet regarding the matter of
TOP-CAAAN, Dave and RJ. I heard nothing from
Mudzurire, Masatwana, Dave or RJ. This silence was
however broken on Monday afternoon, 24th November 2004
by a call from RJ on my cell phone. RJ was in a good
mood and showered praises on me for my exemplary role
in the matter so far. He told me that the executed
indemnities for the issuance of a replacement draft
had been delivered to TOP-CAAAN the previous Friday,
and we would all get paid around the second week of
January 2004. RJ however told me that this was reason
enough to hold a small celebration following the
successful conclusion of the first stage. He told me
that Dave would be in town that Thursday, and the
three of us could get together on Friday, 28th
November 2003 at the Hotel Intercontinental, Harare. I
had no knowledge of what RJ was talking about, but I
nevertheless played along and accepted his invitation.
Immediately after getting off the phone with RJ, I
called Mudzurire to let him know about the latest
development. I also let him know in a firm but polite
matter, that I was displeased at having been kept in
the dark on the happenings of the past four weeks. I
would have appeared extremely incompetent to Dave and
RJ had they called in between wanting information.
Mudzurire asked me to go to his office immediately to
enable us discuss the matter. At his office, I
continued by telling Mudzurire that I should never
have been allowed to take part in the operation if I
was suspected of complicity in the matter, and should
have been either interdicted or summarily dismissed. I
told Mudzurire that I was most exposed and most at
risk in the matter, and did not appreciate this shoddy
treatment at all. Moreover, no consideration to
lessening my regular office duties as I gave attention
to the matter of Dave and RJ, had been given. The
expenses I was incurring in the matter of Dave and RJ
were my own and had not been allocated any budget.
It’s as if I was working for myself and not TOP-CAAAN,
and now this call that morning from RJ.
Mudzurire read my fury clearly and asked me to calm
down. He told me that he was glad to hear that I was
due to meet Dave and RJ this coming Friday and would
use that opportunity to have Dave and RJ arrested. I
would then have the chance to air my grievances after
this. Mudzurire told me he had been shown Fredrick
Parker Smith’s purported submissions that morning that
included a passport photocopy that bore RJ’s image.
Mudzurire told me that they could use this to move in
on RJ, and was more than pleased to hear that both of
them would be in town on the coming Friday. Mudzurire
told me to keep my composure at this crucial stage.
PART IV – CONCLUSION
RJ called me on Friday morning, 28th November 2004 to
confirm whether our meeting that evening was still on
and I confirmed that it was. He told me that he and
Dave would be at the Harare Hotel Intercontinental at
6.00 p.m. at the first floor balcony, next to the
Chizarira bar. I then called Mudzurire on his cell
phone to notify him of this. I felt relieved that the
matter was likely to be concluded that evening, which
would enable me focus on other things. At 5.45 p.m.
that evening, I called Mudzurire, and he told me that
he and a team of officers from ZISU Company 13 were
already stationed at the Harare Intercontinental. I
now knew why Mudzurire was highly regarded for his
dependability.
I got to the Intercontinental at 6.05 p.m. and
immediately proceeded to the first floor balcony where
I found both Dave and RJ. They both greeted me with
elation calling me Zimbabwe’s newest millionaire. As
usual, RJ ordered three cold beers for the three of us
as we engaged in hearty discussion. Dave, who I had
not seen since 3rd October 2003, jokingly asked me
whether I would buy a mansion in Harare’s elite
Stephanie neighbourhood when this was over, or whether
I would take a once in a lifetime luxury cruise around
the world. RJ dismissed Dave saying that I would
almost certainly go into politics. I said that I would
not opt for either of their proposals, and would
instead marry four extra wives, and we all broke into
prolonged laughter. Coincidentally, all three of us
were separated from our wives. Dave was the more
excited of the two, suggesting that we should hop from
joint to joint getting really plastered and end the
evening at ‘Cloud 9’, a famous downtown Harare
brothel. RJ was in agreement and I sat there staring
at both of them in bewilderment. Dave asked if I was
offended by the final part of their suggestion and I
replied no, but quickly added that both of them should
have been born Black, and there was more prolonged
laughter. I had never known that Asians and Whites
also went to ‘Cloud 9’. On a serious note, Dave told
me we would need to see each other about opening an
account for me at National Bank of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo,
when he and RJ obtained Fredrick Parker Smith’s draft
of US $ 25,000. Since NBZ was linked nationwide by
Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), I would be able
to make convenient withdrawals and deposits at any of
their branches, including Harare, once my account was
operational.
In between our second beer, Mudzurire, called me on my
cell phone and asked me make out as though I was
speaking to a client. This was at about 6.40 p.m. He
then told me to excuse myself and go to the bathroom
after five minutes, where I would find a Company 13
officer in a navy blue suit. I would then leave the
Intercontinental with the Company 13 officer trough
the back exit and be led to his vehicle. Company 13
officers led by Inspector Timothy Turugize, would then
move in and arrest Dave and RJ. I did exactly what
Mudzurire told me and was in his car in the next few
moments where I witnessed the arrests with him. The
whole episode took about fifteen minutes and I must
say I was impressed with the manner Turugize handled
it. There were four or five other Company 13 officers
strategically located close by, from what I could see.
Mudzurire didn’t however appear to be paying
attention, and was instead busy attending to calls on
both his cell phone and the communication radio in his
vehicle. I had never had much regard for ZISU Company
13, feeling that it was just a unit of Ndebele and
Shona officers, created for the dual purpose of
reducing unemployment, and scoring political points.
This bias changed that night. No wonder Mudzurire
could afford to attend to other matters as Company 13
carried out the arrests.
After fifteen minutes, Dave and RJ were led out
discreetly by Turugize and his officers, and we drove
in a convoy of about five vehicles to Chitungwiza
Police Station in central Harare. Mudzurire left me in
the car and went in for about half an hour. I urinate
a lot when I drink, and I relieved myself twice in the
bushes during that half hour. It brought back teenage
memories of how I was once arrested near this very
Chitungwiza Police Station for urinating close to it’s
fence and ‘desecrating the Republic of Zimbabwe’.
While also waiting for Mudzurire, Turugize and at
least two other Company 13 officers came to
Mudzurire’s vehicle to thank me. I was honored.
Mudzurire dropped me at my Tutwane house at 8.00 p.m.
that night. He also thanked me.
About three weeks after the night of 28th November
2003, Deborah received an overseas call from someone
claiming to be Anthony Stephen Wilkinson, enquiring
why he had not received two or three dividend drafts.
………………………………..
All the above events took place in Kenya
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