Prime
Court gives DPP month to conclude $26m case against Bitature, wife
Mr Patrick Bitature
What you need to know:
- This comes amid a commercial dispute with South African money lender Vantage Mezzanine Fund 11 Partnership, with proceedings on hold until investigations are complete
Court has given the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) one month to complete inquiries into the $26m case against businessman Patrick Bitature and his wife Carol Nzaro.
This comes amid a commercial dispute with South African money lender Vantage Mezzanine Fund 11 Partnership, with proceedings on hold until investigations are complete.
Prosecution led by Mr Ivan Kyazze yesterday asked the Chief Magistrate’s Court at Buganda Road, presided over by Mr Ronald Kayiizi, to grant them an adjournment, reasoning that the investigations were still on-going.
“This case is adjourned to May 2 and I hope by that time you will have completed the investigations,” Mr Kayiizi said.
Background
The South Africans zeroed in on fraud charges against the Bitatures basing on Section 309 of the Penal Code Act.
It states that any person who conspires with another or uses fraudulent means to affect the market price of anything publicly sold, or to defraud the public, commits an offence.
According to the brief facts of the matter, it is alleged that on or about December 11, 2014 at Diamond Trust Building on Kampala Road, Simba Properties Investment Company, a firm owned by Mr Bitature and his wife Carol, borrowed $10,000,000 (about Shs360b) from Vantage Mezzanine Fund, pursuant to a written mezzanine facility agreement.
The Bitatures in turn, offered their shares in several of their companies such as Linda Properties Ltd, Elgon Terrace Ltd, Simba Properties Investment Company Ltd and Simba Telecom Ltd, collectively referred to as Simba Companies.
The Bitatures were shareholders in the aforementioned companies directly or indirectly.
It is alleged that the Bitatures being directors of Simba Companies then, with full knowledge and intent to defraud the South African company and other creditors, altered the shareholding of Simba Companies.
The law
The South African Company, poised to be the private prosecutor, alleges that the actions of the businessman and his wife violated Section 323 of the Penal Code, as they purportedly committed fraud and issued false annual returns concerning the companies, contrary to Section 309.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal has since ordered the businessman to face trial after the dismissal of his application. This comes after the High Court directed Buganda Road magistrates to approve private prosecution charges against him and his wife.
Justice Hellen Obura, who sat as a single judge, held that the application by the businessman was incompetent before her and was already overtaken by events.
“Before I take leave of this matter, I wish to observe that even if I had not found the application incomplete, I would still dismiss it for two reasons. First of all, this application has been overtaken by events as it is clear from the applicant’s supplementary affidavit in support of the application that the order sought to stay has since been executed by the chief magistrate when she sanctioned the charge sheet and any attendant document within five business days from the date of the decision,” the judge held.
The case
Businessman Patrick Bitature and his wife Carol Nzaro are embroiled in a $26 million case, accused by South African money lender Vantage Mezzanine Fund 11 Partnership of fraudulently altering the shareholding of Simba Companies, including Linda Properties Ltd, Elgon Terrace Ltd, Simba Properties Investment Company Ltd, and Simba Telecom Ltd, which they offered as collateral for a loan.
