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Prosper Dembedza-Herald Correspondent 

Harare lawyer Norman Mugiya has appeared in court on allegations of converting to personal use, money given to him by his client to pay the Sheriff at the High Court to execute an award order.

Mugiya was facing theft of trust property when he appeared before Harare magistrate Ntombizodwa Sibanda who remanded him to October 5 for trial.

The complainant is Nyarai Chinguruwe of Mufakose.

It is the State’s case that sometime in 2017, the complainant engaged Mugiya for legal services and instructed him to recover her late husband’s outstanding salary amounting to US$2 175 from Kingstons (Pvt) Ltd where he was employed before his death. 

The court heard that Mugiya won a court order under High Court case number 7676/17. In quest to recover the aforementioned salary, stationery of an undisclosed value was attached from Kingstons as per removal assessment form dated 9 November 2018. 

It is alleged that Mugiya then made Chinguruwe pay fees amounting to US$540 which was required by the Deputy Sheriff for the execution of property against Kingstons. 

The court heard that on July 24, 2018, Chinguruwe paid to the accused, the said amount and was issued with a receipt. 

The accused then asked Chinguruwe to supply him with banking details where proceeds from the auction of the stationery would be deposited.

The complainant allegedly supplied banking details expecting the funds to be deposited. 

After some time, Chinguruwe noticed that no funds were deposited into her bank account. She proceeded to the High Court where she was told that she did not pay the required removal fees of US$540. 

Investigations revealed that the said property was attached but was not removed as the complainant had not paid removal fees. 

Clarification was sought from the Judicial Service Commission and it was confirmed that the money was not paid.

The State alleges that Mugiya stole US$540 from the Chinguruwe and nothing was recovered.