Willard Chidambo Maseko & Anor v The State

SC 42/20

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Case Details

Court

Supreme Court

Date

13 September 2018

Citation

SC 42/20

Neutral Citation

[2020] ZWSC 42

Outcome

unknown

Case Type

Appeal

Bench

Presiding

GWAUNZA DCJ

Author

GOWORA JA

Full Bench

GWAUNZA DCJGOWORA JAMAKONI JA

Areas of Law

Criminal LawProperty Law

Keywords

fraudtitle deedsmisrepresentationprejudiceRegistrar of Deeds

Key Issues

{"issue_text":"Whether the conviction for fraud was sustainable where the misrepresentation was made to the Registrar of Deeds but the prejudice was suffered by the complainant.","issue_type":"law","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"Misrepresentation to Registrar; loss suffered by complainant."}
{"issue_text":"Whether the element of prejudice was satisfied in the circumstances.","issue_type":"law","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"Sale of pledged property; failure to recover debt."}

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Facts of the Case

Background

The appellants, husband and wife, leased a property from the complainant and were entrusted with securing containers on the premises. They stole hardware material from the containers and, as security for the debt, pledged a property registered in the name of a company they controlled. They failed to pay the debt and subsequently sold the pledged property to a third party by fraudulently obtaining replacement title deeds from the Registrar of Deeds, claiming the originals were lost.

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