THE former Managing Director of Assa Abloy Chubb Locks Union Clive Majoni who defrauded his employer of US$ 1,381,920 will be back in court on 12 May.
Majoni initially appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mrs Marehwanazvo Gofa and was is currently on bail.
The court heard that between 2018 and 2019, Chubb Locks Union Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd maintained United States dollar (USD) balances in its Stanbic Bank account numbers 9140000687315 and 9140002837888. Following the monetary policy reforms introduced in February 2019 by the Government of Zimbabwe, in line with Exchange Control Directive RU28, all USD deposits held in local bank accounts were re-denominated to RTGS dollars at a parity rate of 1:1.
To safeguard the value of legitimate pre-February 2019 foreign obligations, the Ministry of
Finance and Economic Development, through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), issued guidance under the Blocked Funds (Legacy Debt) Framework, inviting affected companies to apply for recognition of such obligations as “legacy debts.” Accordingly, Chubb Locks Union Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd identified foreign liabilities amounting to USD 1,381,918.65 as qualifying under this framework.
Pursuant to this guidance, on 28 August 2019, Assa Abloy Chubb Locks Union Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd (AAZ), the successor entity to Chubb Locks Union Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd, lodged a Legacy Debt (Blocked Funds) Application with the RBZ, through Stanbic Bank, for validation and registration of the said blocked funds. Documents submitted by Assa Abloy Chubb Locks Union Zimbabwe through Stanbic Bank for the registration of the blocked funds.
It is allged that on January 30 2020, the RBZ approved the application and confirmed that USD 4,381,918.65 was recognized as blocked funds under Exchange Control Circular Number 8 of 2019.
This approval gave Assa Abloy Chubb Locks Union Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd a valid claim against the RBZ for that amount, which would be paid or settled later under the Bank’s Blocked Funds resolution Framework.
At the material time, Majoni served as Managing Director of Assa Abloy Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd.
Owing to operational and cash flow challenges, Assa Abloy Zimbabwe (Private) Limited ceased trading and terminated the employment of Majoni on 4 November 2020, followed by his removal as company Director. The termination agreement included clause 3.5 offering the accused an incentive of USD 20,000 for facilitating the settlement of the oe Legacy Debt Application in favour of Assa Abloy Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, to ensure the accused person kept the principals informed of any developments and ass‘sted in monet zing the approved claim, as he was the contact person in the orignal application filed before his dismissal.