BHUNU
J: The applicant is the director of two duly registered real estate companies,
Pride Real Estate and Ascent Real Estate. He is alleged to have fraudulently
sold a residential stand in Mount Pleasant Heights for US$15 000-00 sometime in
2007 and converted the proceeds to his own use.
Investigations
revealed that the applicant has a similar pending case under CRB 4634/11. He is
also facing an additional charge of fraudulently faking his qualifications to
gain registration as an estate agent.
The
presiding magistrate denied the applicant bail on the basis that he has a
propensity of committing fraud and therefore was likely to commit similar
offences if granted bail. It was however, argued on the applicant's behalf that
the current offence was not committed while he was on bail.
I
take the view that the time at which the current offences were committed is
irrelevant in determining whether or not the applicant has a penchant of
committing offences of a fraudulent nature.
The
facts placed before the presiding magistrate quite clearly establish that the
applicant has an inclination towards committing fraudulent acts in the course
of his business. That being the case, the magistrate can hardly be faulted for
determining that the applicant is not a good candidate for bail.
For
that reason the appeal against the denial of bail cannot succeed. It is
accordingly ordered that the application be and is hereby dismissed.
Muza and Nyapadi, the Applicant's Legal Practitioners.
The attorney
General's Office, the Respondent's legal Practitioners.
