Through his lawyers Taona Nyamakura and Fadzai Mahere, the legal practitioner, who is jointly charged with Theresa Machawira, have applied for exception to the fraud, extortion and money laundering.
They argue that their “rights to protection under the law were being infringed by facing prosecution on facts that did not constitute a crime and there was no need for a full trial when Venturas and Samukange’s case was unclear”.
“In particular, the charge sheet does not state whether it is alleged that one of the accused persons wrote the letter and if so, which accused person wrote the letter?” their lawyers said.
Everson Samukange and Machawira who were previously employed by Venturas and Samukange are also accused of allegedly sending a live bullet to a senior partner at the firm and a threatening note, which said do “not persecute blacks”.
They are further arguing that the extortion charge was “contrived and not water tight”, as there was no link between them and the live bullet allegedly sent to Venturas.
It is the State’s case that the youthful lawyer and his co-accused converted legal fees belonging to Venturas and Samukange for his personal use. Despite being given a September 2018 deadline to return the money, they have allegedly failed to do so.
