By Judith Nyuke
A 70-year-old Mutare man appeared in court on Friday, charged with fraudulently changing company ownership documents to take over a family-run company, Shingadia Furniture Mart (Pvt) Ltd.
Kumar Natwar Shingadia who is also a shareholder and director of the company, appeared before Harare magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa facing charges of fraud and theft of trust property.
He was remanded out of custody until August 27, 2025.
The complainant in the case is Bhavick Baccol Shingadia, the nephew of the accused and executor of his late father Bacool Rajsihn Shingadia’s estate.
Bacool Rajsihn Shingadia previously held 29,800 of the company’s 100,000 ordinary shares, with another relative, Vanraj Karson Shingadia holding 300 shares.
The State alleges that in February 2022, Kumar Natwar forged special board resolutions to increase the company’s authorized share capital from 100,000 to 400,000 shares. He then reportedly allocated 280,000 of these new shares to himself.
It is further alleged that he submitted the forged resolutions to Danford Mavhunga, instructing him to register the changes with the Registrar of Companies and to remove the late Bacool and Vanraj Karson as shareholders and directors.
It is also the State’s case that Kumar Natwar collected rental proceeds amounting to US$200,000 from company-owned property and failed to remit the funds to rightful beneficiaries.
