Story by Peter Chivhima
FORMER Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (COTTCO) chief executive officer, Pious Manamike has failed in his bid to stop the seizure of his property by the state pending the finalisation of his fraud case.
This comes after the High Court dismissed his application this Friday.
Manamike had approached the higher court to stop the stay of execution of seized property, pending the finalisation of his fraud case.
The former COTTCO CEO was arrested in June last alongside the company’s Development Marketing Manager, Macmore Njanji on allegations of abusing COTTCO resources to fund their projects.
During their initial court appearance last year, the State was granted an order to seize their property pending the finalisation of the case.
Manamike, however, sought to overturn the court order but his urgent application was dismissed by High Court judge, Justice Pisirai Kwenda this Friday.
Justice Kwenda also ruled that Manamike should not confuse temporary seizure with confiscation.
The property will only be forfeited if the State proves that it was acquired through corrupt means.
