Henrietta Rushwaya, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) president, faced accusations related to a mine sale involving an Indian investor. She was granted bail of US$500 by a Harare magistrate on Wednesday, as reported by ZimLive.
Following her Tuesday arrest, Rushwaya was released into her lawyer’s custody. The Harare magistrate, Stanford Mambanje, cited the absence of compelling reasons from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to deny her bail.
She will be back in court on April 10.
According to Prosecutor Lancelot Mutsokoti, on April 2, 2021, Henrietta Rushwaya invited Ashok Jain, the chairman of the NV Group of Companies based in New Delhi, India. The purpose of this invitation was to discuss potential investment in a gold mine located in Umpfurudzi.
It is alleged that Rushwaya was aware of the impending expiration of a special grant issued to her, which was set to lapse on May 2, 2021.
Allegedly, Rushwaya, who had connected with Jain through Asif Adil, informed him that she could facilitate business opportunities in Zimbabwe. These opportunities included ventures related to liquor distribution, establishing a distillery, and setting up an ethanol plant.
According to court proceedings, Rushwaya requested US$35,000 from Jain as a prerequisite for initiating the establishment of his business in Zimbabwe.
Additionally, it is alleged that on October 4, 2021, Jain met Rushwaya in New Delhi, and she received the requested sum of money.
During the same month, Rushwaya extended an invitation to Jain and his son, Varun Jain, to visit Zimbabwe for a business meeting. Said Mutsokoti:
During that visit, Rushwaya allegedly informed Jain that she had a gold mine in Mashonaland Central which she could sell to him.
She took Jain and his son to Umpfurudzi in Mashonaland Central and showed them the alleged mine which she claimed was rich in gold and was on 420 hectares.
Allegedly, Rushwaya proposed selling the mine to Jain for a sum of US$350,000. On December 26, 2021, Rushwaya requested the initial payment of US$175,000 from Jain for the mine purchase. This transaction was facilitated by a representative known solely as Richard. Said Mutsokoti:
On different dates between January 10, 2022, and May 2022, Rushwaya misrepresented to the complainant that she was preparing for mining to resume and she was paid various amounts of money totalling US$615,000 by the complainant when in actual fact she was doing no such process.
On May 12, 2022, she further demanded the second instalment of US$175,000 for the purchase of the Umpfurudzi gold mine and the money was deposited into Relm Mining Syndicate’s CBZ Account 26160480020 and US$3,000 was transferred into her personal CBZ Harare account.
Rushwaya allegedly provided a fraudulent geologist’s report claiming the Umpfurudzi mine lacked gold deposits, intending to divert Jain’s attention to another mine in Shangani.
Through the continued misrepresentation, Jain was allegedly defrauded of over US$1 million.
Rushwaya is represented by his lawyer Oliver Marwa.
