HARARE – Dynamos Football Club chairman Bernard Marriot Lusengo tinkered with the club’s books and gave himself the majority stake at the stroke of a pen, a court heard on Thursday.

Lusengo, 73, one of the directors at the Harare giants, appeared before magistrate Shane Kubonera charged with fraud. He was remanded to July 26 for trial.

Dynamos (Pvt) Limited, represented by head of directors Robinson Rundaba is the plaintiff. According to prosecutors, Dynamos’ subsisting articles of association were replaced through a special resolution sometime in 2008.

The net effect was to allocate some shares to people who were active members of the club during the period extending from 1963 to 1968, in line with recommendations from the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC).

A three-member committee consisting of Rundaba, Lusengo, and Casper Muzenda, was set up to look into the issue, focusing on allocation, payment, distribution, and issuing of share certificates.

Prosecutors said, however, the committee never convened, and to that effect, the allocation of shares and issuance of certificates was not done.

It is alleged that sometime in February 2014, Rundaba, as finance director, reported a case of fraud against then-club treasurer Webster Marechera.

Not too happy with police involvement, the board called a meeting and resolved to replace Rundaba with Owen Chandamale, who is now deceased.

Rundaba, the court heard, went on to withdraw the matter under pressure from the board on April 21, 2014, and then walked away from the Harare club but never resigned as a company director.

Then in 2019, prosecutors said, Rundaba received a call from a Chitambo from Sakunda Holdings advising him that Lusengo had approached their company seeking sponsorship for Dynamos FC claiming to be the sole owner of the soccer club with 100 percent ownership.

A subsequent meeting between Rundaba, Chitambo, Simon Sachiti [now deceased], and one Nyamandwe discussed the shock revelations, with Chitambo revealing that Lusengo had changed his claims and was now saying he owned a 51 percent stake.

Rundaba then made a police report, prompting investigations that revealed that Lusengo had manipulated the shares register and awarded himself 51 percent shareholding without the board’s knowledge or approval.