Six men appeared in court yesterday facing allegations of attempting to rob a Kwekwe miner of 47,5kgs of gold worth over $1,8 million which was destined for Fidelity Printers in the gold mining town.
Franco Celia Pullen, Chemist Sibanda, Munyaradzi Charakupa, Zadzisai Mutambi, Farai Sibanda and Vengai Simari appeared before provincial magistrate Mrs Phathekile Msipa in Kwekwe facing one count of attempted robbery.Pullen (43) of Kwekwe, Charakupa (40) of Harare and Mutambi (34), Sibanda (43) and Simari (38) and Farai (21) all of Kadoma are alleged to have attempted to seize the gold while it was being transported in a delivery van on Monday.
The six pleaded not guilty to the charge through their legal representative Mr Thomas Militao.
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| $1,8 million ‘failed gold heist’:Gang pleads not guilty |
This was after Mr Militao had applied to the court for the accused persons not to be put on remand, arguing that Pullen was the rightful owner of the mining concession where the gold originated from, hence he could not have robbed himself.
The lawyer said the accused had a licence for the mining concession issued by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.
“I’m opposed to the State application for remand because there is no reason to suspect that the six committed the offence. The complainant in this matter is the one who, in the company of heavily armed police officers pushed my client off his mine. He was then arrested trying to enter Fidelity Printers where the complainant was delivering the 47kg of gold. My client only wanted transparency in the delivery of the gold and there was no use of violence. As for the other five, they were arrested by the police outside Kwekwe Police Station while waiting to see the first accused who had been arrested,” said Mr Militao.
Prosecuting, Miss Yeukai Mugumba told the court that the complainant is Vansburg Drumgold Enterprises led by Mr Armstrong Mapanga (44) of Kwekwe. She said on July 12, the complainant through his company Vansburg Drumgold Enterprises was given a mining certificate to mine at Dandrum Mine North. She said on July 17, Vansburg Drumgold Enterprises, started operating from the mine and extracted a a substantial amount of gold ore which they took to Combustion Tech Company in Kwekwe for processing.
“On July 18 and at around 1PM, Vansburg Drumgold Enterprises being represented by Armstrong Mapanga finished processing the gold ore and produced 47,5kg of gold which he then loaded into his Isuzu Twin Cab intending to transport it to Fidelity Printers and Refiners in Kwekwe,” she said.
Miss Mugumba said Pullen phoned his accomplices informing them to waylay Mapanga as he drove to Fidelity Printers and Refiners in Kwekwe to deliver the gold.
“Accused number one (Pullen) then charged towards the complainant’s motor vehicle. Upon arrival he hit the complainant on the chest with a fist and tried to forcefully open the complainant’s car intending to take away the 47,5kg of gold, but failed as Armstrong Mapanga locked the doors in the process,” she said.
The prosecutor said the complainant quickly alerted the police but the accused person ran away before he could be arrested. She said later Pullen and the five accomplices went to Combustion Tech main gate where gold is processed and introduced themselves as police officers.
Miss Mugumba said police officers manning the premises requested the six to produce their police identity cards but they failed to do so.
“On realising that the police officers were not going to let them inside Combustion Tech, the six sped off in their vehicle and caught up with the complainant who was now under police escort on their way to deliver the gold at Fidelity Printers and Refiners. The accused person chased after the delivery van intending to take away the gold,” she said.
“On arrival at Fidelity Printers and Refiners, a police officer carried the gold into the premises before the accused persons charged towards the police officer.”
She said police officers arrested Pullen.
Miss Mugumba said his co-accused followed Pullen to the police station where they were also arrested.
