… As the Dube’s trial date for theft of trust property valued US$309 595.67 is set

Ngoni Dapira  

FORMER Clique Pharmacy managing director and shareholder Douglas Chiutsi (38) was on Tuesday acquitted of all 186 counts of theft and fraud by the Regional Magistrate Noel Mupeiwa at Mutare Magistrates Court.

Magistrate Mupeiwa said the State represented by prosecutor Last Goredema failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, so the benefit of doubt would go to the accused, Chiutsi, in all the 186 counts. He said it was the duty of the State to prove the guilt of the accused person beyond reasonable doubt as is provided for in Section 18 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act, but in this case prosecution failed to do so throughout the trial.

“The failure by the state to prove that the accused generated the goods received vouchers (GRVs) for count 1 to 24 means that they failed to prove that he stole either drugs or cash. Similarly, the state’s failure to prove that the accused generated the GRVs for count 25 to 186 coupled by the accused’s evidence which shows that these suppliers were actually supplying drugs, goes to show that the state failed to prove that the accused made a misrepresentation to Healthwell Pharmacy with intent to cause Healthwell Pharmacy to act to its prejudice,” said Magistrate Mupeiwa.

Adding in his parting shot, “Since the state has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt the benefit of doubt goes to the accused person in all 186 counts. My verdict is not guilty and acquitted,” he said, and immediately upon pronouncing his verdict the large crowd of people that was in attendance in the courtroom erupted into cheers.

Chiutsi who is a former managing director and shareholder of the once popular but now closed down pharmacy in Mutare, Clique Pharmacy, which was registered as Healthwell Pharmacy, was arraigned before the court mid last year by his business partners facing theft charges of USD$15 621,37 and fraud charges of US$284 036.21 which amounted to 186 counts in total.

Clique Pharmacy was formed in Mutare in 2017 by three shareholders, Chiutsi (33%), Paula Dube (33.5 percent) and Simbarashe Mushambi  Dube (33.5%). The other two shareholders, the Dube’s, are a couple. The now non-operational Clique Pharmacy which was registered as Healthwell Pharmacy within a short space of time grew to become a big brand in the pharmaceutical business in Mutare.

From its formative years in 2017 up to 2023 it reportedly recorded increasing annual gross profits each year. The pharmacy at its peak in 2023 allegedly reached annual sales of over US$2 million, which was a yardstick of a very viable business entity. This is why the case drew so much public interest ever since it started last year, making newspaper headlines in the eastern border city.

The Chiutsi trial started in July this year and ended last month on 15 September. The Judgement was supposed to have been handed down on 22 September but was moved to 30 September due to the unavailability of the Magistrate who was said to have been transferred to Harare. The matter was however finally concluded on Tuesday and was the first case to be attended to in the morning. The courtroom was full to the brim, a sign that the case had many people that were following it through to the end.

Magistrate Mupeiwa took his time to go through his judgement of all the 186 counts. According to the State Outline, in the first 24 counts of theft of trust property, prosecution alleged that on various dates between 2020 and 2024 the accused, Chiutsi, manipulated the quantities of received pharmaceutical drugs in the creation of goods received vouchers (GRVs) in their computer software system known as Propharm.

The State further alleged that the accused would then convert the balance of the understatement in the received drugs to his own use in breach of the duty of trust which was entrusted on him by Healthwell Pharmacy thereby committing the offence of theft of trust property as defined in section 113(2) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act. The state brought in ICT (Information and Communication Technology) experts as witnesses and argued that the Propharm system was water tight and the accused was the only one who was able to generate the said GRVs.

However in defense, Chris Ndlovu of Gonese and Ndlovu Legal Practitioners, who was representing Chiutsi, practically demonstrated to the court how the Propharm system could have been manipulated just to build a case and frame the accused.

Chiutsi on the witness stand denied that he was the one who created the GRVs in count 1 to 24. He said anyone could have accessed the system and created the alleged GRVs, putting his credentials on the said offending GRVs. To demonstrate that the Propharm system could be easily tempered with, the accused went on to generate a GRV with the same details as those on the GRVs which form the basis of the charges against him, then on one set he put the details of the complainant (Simbarashe Dube) and on the other he put the details of Paula Dube who is complainant’s wife. By so doing Chiutsi proved that if he could temper with the GRVs, anyone especially ICT savvy people, could have have easily tempered with the said GRVs used to frame him.

To further prove that the GRVs were manipulated, the defense also brought to attention a GRV for count 13 that was created during a period that Chiutsi was not at work but actually out of the country on holiday. The accused produced his passport to prove that he was out of the country on the particular date on the GRV for count 13. Ndlovu said that alone actually proved that it was not only the accused who was generating GRVs at the pharmacy and it exposed the likelihood of him being framed in all the other GRVs.

“The state has therefore failed to prove to the degree required at criminal law that it was the accused only that could generate the GRVs and that indeed it is the accused who generated the impugned GRV,” said Ndlovu in his defense outline against theft charges.

On the fraud charges from count 25 to 186 where the State alleged that the accused created ghost suppliers listed as Varichem Kuda, Varichem Cosmas, Varichem Martin and Varichem Adams to siphon money from the company, the defense proved that the Varichem’s were real known suppliers of pharmaceutical drugs, but they used pseudonyms because they were not registered.

Chiutsi produced a copy of the company’s security officers log book which was served to him by the State, which in turn ironically confirmed that all the Varichem’s were actually logged in after supplying drugs to the pharmacy and not ghost suppliers as alleged by the State. Chiutsi also produced evidence of group Whats App chats between the management of Healthwell Pharmacy which proved that the complainant was aware of the unregistered suppliers who were supplying drugs.

Magistrate Mupeiwa therefore concluded that, “The state therefore failed to prove that the GRV’s for count 25 to 186, whoever generated them made a misrepresentation. The state has also failed to prove that the Varichem’s in question were ghost suppliers.”

The trial also had its share of drama as it opened a can of worms during the cross examination of the fourth State witness, the investigating officer Percy Saunyama. He explained in court the steps he took when investigating the case at hand. However, during the cross examination Magistrate Mupeiwa was baffled as to how and why his investigations of Chiutsi started three (3) months before a formal report had been made at Mutare central police station.

The defense had questioned why Saunyama who is a police officer based in Mabvuku in Harare claimed he was assigned on the case in March 2024, but the police docket was dated 25 June 2024. Ndlovu questioned whether the investigations and arrests that came about were above board in the absence of a police docket.  The Investigating officer when asked admitted that he was not working for the Commercial Crimes Division when he arrested Chiutsi, so how he landed on the case remained mum when asked.

Whilst the court cases of the Clique Pharmacy wrangle are far from over, the criminal charges of theft and fraud laid on Chiutsi were the most severe that made headlines drawing public interest. Ever since the matter came to light in June last year, Chiutsi was arrested four times for various accusations.

However, on the contrary as the drama continues to unfold, the trial of the Dube couple also facing theft of trust property charges is set to start next Thursday. They were subpoenaed on 23 September and appeared before Mutare Magistrate Honest Musiiwa on 29 September represented by their lawyers from Maunga, Maanda and Associates.

In this State case, Chiutsi who is now the complainant is claiming to have been prejudiced of US$309 595.67 in theft of trust property by the Dube’s whom he accused of selling Clique Pharmacy assets and the business last year on 5 September to Tirman Investments. Tirmin Investments who are now operating their own pharmacy at the same premise where Clique Pharmacy used to operate, only slightly changed their brand name to Clique Care Pharmacy.

Clique Pharmacy was closed by the Medicines Control Association of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) last year on 8 August due to lack of compliance issues, a month before it was sold on 5 September as alleged by Chiutsi.

The State outline reads,” The complainant held 33% of the shares while the two accused persons had 33.5% each. In 2024 the parties had a sour relationship and the complainant resigned from work as a pharmacist on 7 May 2024. The Complainant left Healthwell Pharmacy t/a Clique Pharmacy with stock and assets as stated on annexure marked ‘B’ attached valued at US$272 775-56. Cash at hand US$21 990.00. Stanbic Bank account 914000991383 had US$1351.99. ZB Bank account 4532257721405 had US$13 478.14 as of 06 May 2024.”

In the State outline Chiutsi further claims that the accused persons removed him from being a director without his knowledge or consent on 27 May 2024 and went on to remove him from being a signatory at Healthwell Pharmacy.