The director of Marondera- based Eagle Italian Leather and Shoes Company, Francesco Marconati, has pleaded with ZRP Commissioner- General Godwin Matanga to intervene and order the arrest of his former business partner for plotting to kill him.
Marconati claims that he filed an attempted murder case against former business partner Li Song under case number CR43/01/24 at Dornington Police Station in Bulawayo in January this year, but the law enforcement agents in the country’s largest city are reluctant to pursue the matter despite recording witnesses’ statements.
He says at one time he wrote to the officer in-charge at Dornington Police Station requesting for the transfer of the case to Harare, but the request was rejected.
In his letter to Matanga dated March 1, 2024,Marconati says:“I wrote to the officer -in-charge Domington Police Station Bulawayo requesting that the case l had reported for attempted murder against Li Song be transferred to CID Homicide Harare. I stated my reasons in the letter, mainly being that my life and that of my son is under threat and that since all witness statements had been collected, and that accused person has on numerous occasions managed to wriggle her way out of police investigations through name-dropping of high- ranking government officials based in Harare.
“As such, if the matter was to be transferred to Harare, it meant that when accused person tries to play her usual cards, then any such claims would quickly be brought to the fingered authorities and handled without delay.”
Marconati added that the officer in-charge Dornington Police Station promised to investigate the case without delay and the matter was assigned to one Detective Gadzai.
The businessman, however, says the detective tasked to handle the matter keeps shifting the goalposts.
“It is my plea that my life is under threat, and considering what is going on at present with other cases which I have reported, now involving the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) as one of the complainants.
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“I believe that the present case referenced above has solid evidence competent enough to ensure that accused person is placed on remand.
" Statements of people who were engaged in the plot to take my life were collected by the police and once the accused person is apprehended, this would send a clear message, not only to the accused person and her sympathisers but also to anyone who may want to take advantage of the circumstances obtaining," Marconati wrote.
“It is my considered view that writing to your office at this stage is my best hope and solution and I trust that you give attention to my complaint such that my case can be dealt with promptly." Marconati has been locked in a long -running legal battle with Li after he accused her of externalising the company’s millions of United States dollars to her dodgy Mauritian company.
He claims that several efforts to have Li arrested have failed as she seems to enjoy protection from top government officials and law enforcement agents.
